Log:Mandalorians: The Despot of Onderon

Alor'Kast's final push to conquer Onderon.

OOC Date: April 26, 2023
Location: Iziz Palace, Onderon
Participants: Mandalorians, Hadrix Kora, Amaia Dara, Zena Tane, Kademir, Terek Rosol, Jallo Dara, Sumi Kora

The palace was on heavy alert with AA-guns firing non-stop from the battlements to engage in the Mandalorian forces. Fighters, beasts, and large vessel roar by overhead whilst the fighting upon the palace grounds itself intensified. Approaching dusk, native forces of Onderon were met with a force who were well equipped for the challenge of siege and conquering. Knights and warriors who had grown complacent during the rule of the present King learned first hand what complacency earned.

On the topic of the royal family, Talion Kast, Alor of House Kast, meets with a special team out in the court yard whilst the battle takes place around them. Mandalorians form a tight perimeter, and ships that have landed in the courtyard provide cover enough for Talion to stand there with his helmet under one arm. "MANDO'ADE.. ON ME.." He growls over the noise of battle.

"OUR FORCES HAVE NATIVES LOCKED IN A NASTY BATTLE AND OCCUPIED WITH MANNING DEFENSES. I HAVE ASSEMBLED THIS TEAM TO SECURE CERTAIN VICTORY FOR US BY CAPTURING THE ONLY TWO PEOPLE WHO MEAN ANYTHING ON THIS MILK-DRINKING WORLD." Kast shifts, looking out at an explosion that crumbles portion of the battlement walls and observes two Mandos running from the chaos, laughing.

"THE SOONER YOU CAPTURE THE KING AND THE PRINCESS, THE SOONER WE CAN GET AROUND GRINDING THIS PLACE TO DUST. NOW, FIGHT YOUR WAY INSIDE, DEFEAT THE KINGS-GUARD AND ANY OTHER PAWN THEY THROW AT YOU, AND CAPTURE THE KING AND PRINCESS ALIVE. WHEN THE KING BENDS THE KNEE ADMITTING DEFEAT, I WILL HONOR THE ACTION WITH A CEASE FIRE /PROVIDED/ CERTAIN TERMS ARE MET!"

"THERE ARE NO QUESTIONS, SO GRAB YOUR DREK AND GET INSIDE. GOOD LUCK!"

Sumi flicks her smoke off into the distance and dons her helmet. <"Let's go, people.">

Short as the brief had been, his helmet had remained on and his attention divided on Talion's information and that being fed to him by Gripper from her lofty place above the chaos. A spec, too small for most sensors, with her optical and sweep scanners working full duty.

<"Copy, Sumi'alor.">

Drawing the cocking lever of his long gun with ratcheting clatter audible even in the din of combat, leaning momentarily around the defilade provided by landed craft, calculating and then rolling around the edge to begin walking towards the steep stairs of the castle entry.

<<"Wampa's horns, people. Lighter weapons on the flanks, divide attention for heavier weapons to push center. Steady advance. Be ready for folk deciding to make it personal.">> Because there is always someone with a need to use hand to hand weapons...

Considering the weapons she was carrying with her, Mai Dara was unsure if she fit into the heavier weapon category or the lighter. She lined up with the lighter just to be sure. And to be something of a surprise if she was wrong. Battles needed those. The people they were likely to face might find it persoal, but this was all just another mission to the Rattataki. And she was prepared to finish the mission.

Zena is here to help. She's happy to help. This is what Mandalorians do. She's got a loaner weapon today, though the big sniper rifle is still slung on her back. She does final checks on the carbine and racks it to life, grinning like a fool under her helmet. "This is so cool," she says to herself.

She listens to Alor'Kast's briefing as things go bananas around them, and she just nods once. <<"Moving out. We've got this.">>

Then she simply moves with the group, carbine brought to bear as she makes ready to shoot anyone who asks for it til they stop moving.

While not his first action, it is Kademir's first large scale operation. Granted this is a smaller team, another cog in the machine, but still a big operation. He' s quatted down on his haunches, stretching a little as they prepare to begin.

Kade's considering his own options, the elongated helmet looks down to his right thigh and the weapon there, and his shoulders roll, the hilt over the top of the right one jostles for attention. His face splits into a fanged grin behind the helmet's visor, it's attention turning towards the explosions and laughing Mandos.

<<"Understood.">> He worked to keep his excitement tamped down off the comms, and out of his body language. That will change for the young Mandalorian soon enough. As he rises from his crouch, his E-11 is drawn in the same series of motions to be brought to bear as he starts moving with a purpose.

To the Flanks it is.

Having seen the fight through this far, Terek would be damned if he didn't help finish it off. The dark clad cathar stood with his W-35 at his side, listening to the mission brief from Alor Kast. Very motivational.

He tilts his head to the side for a moment, stretching his neck, before he raises his pistol up, <"Alright. Let's go capture a king."> He's all raring to go, and as ever, excited to see how his fellow Mandalorians handle themselves as they overwhelm the forces before them.

Jallo's for sure one of the lighter weapons today as he pulls his short for a carbine barreled weapon out. Pulling the stock out he shoulders the small weapon as his helmet sweeps the rest of the team, <"Guess I'm on one of the flanks."> A pause for a moment... <"We want them alive yes?">

As the team moved, they passed several small skirmishes between Mandalorians, Beast Riders, and Onderonian Knights. The choice in weaponry varied from vibroblades, to rifles, to slugthrowers, and even a Kell Dragon; the Mandalorians were having a ball with the dragon. The team's path brought them to the main entrance of the palace, the very building that was the most fortified and closed off by a shield generator. As Sumi asked the Mandos pinned down what the <"...god damned hold up is?!">> The answer she got indicated sharpshooters and brawlers that had managed to fend them off.

Sumi's response was to step out in the open to draw fire from the sharpshooters and clue the team in on where they were. Almost immediately, loud shots rang out from the upper leveled balcony, pocking up the ground near Sumi with one firm hit sparking off the beskar plating from her right arm. <"You saw 'em"> Yelled Sumi, who had been knocked to the ground by the shot. <"LIGHT EM THE REKK UP! REST OF YOU, WITH ME! WE HAVE TO BLOW UP THAT RESONATOR!"> The resonator? The shield device the Onderonians were safeguarding, and the very thing preventing them from getting inside. Sumi drew the song-blade of Dargul from its scabbard along her lower back and moved across the court yard toward the 5 guards protecting the resonator. An additional 5 sharpshooters jockey for a position to engage the blue clad Mando'ade, providing a chance for the others to engage at a distance.

<"Only the Princess and King, sir.. everybody else can bite it, yeah?" Says one of the Mandalorians to Jallo while traveling with the rest of the team.

Well, sometimes it was the lightest weapons that were the most effective. They let you get in quick, and fire even quicker. Such was how Mai Dara moved, keeping to the side on which her Alor was fighting, helmet flashing back and forth as she marked the most likely targets. It was one of the sharpshooters she aimed for. Better to get them before they could get her, yes? Quite unlike the last time,a s one of the bodies flew back with the force of the slug impacting their chest, Mai got them before they got her.

Watching Sumi get hit and spun to the ground by the impact gains a particular sort of attention from Al'Verde Kora. No rushing to her side, no call-out if she's alright. She stood up, she started bellowing orders again; so there was no further concern over the injury - minimal as it was expected to be.

But the old anger flares, the never quite out embers that burn in waking and sleeping hours. Rifle lifted and stepping forward as he fires a blazing green shot that looks like a micro-torpedo streaks between the distance to burst the onderonian's head like a melon within their helmet. Gore pouring from the holes blown through the front and back as the headwear drops from their shoulders and Hadrix is stopped in his tracks by the report. Leaning into the recoil but overcompensating for it, the second shot that roars from the personal cannon smashes into duracrete, spraying stone chips.

<<"Keep pushing, steady pressure. Fire on their flank guards, try to force them closer together. Get them clustered.">> the targeting whip of his helmet drops suddenly before his visor.

Zena moves with the pack, gaze intense but sweeping. Her HUD lights up, and the carbine swings to truly bear. Blaster fire, explosions and the chaos of mass violence rages everywhere as the Mando Squad moves towards the castle.

The tiny woman swings the carbine up and squeezes the trigger, a triple round burst issuing forth and blasting one of the shooters on the battlements. <<"Got one. We're doin' terrific!">>

Hopefully she didn't speak too soon.

It feels like a no quarter order, and Kademir is not experiencing any hesitation like he was concerned he would be. Partially because of his upbringing, partially because they're also shooting his way. He looks down at the newer weapon in his hands so recently modified. This is a live fire test of the weapon. No more ranges. No more holo-targets.

Stalking cover to cover, Kademir extends the stock, and wraps the sling of the weapon around him in case he has to drop it to use his other weapons. Others weapons fire, and he ignores it concentrating on the first target. The first shot strikes solid, and causes what happens to so many when they are suddenly also on fire. The sharpshooter screams and panics, arms and legs flailing as he runs back and forth, before dropping onto his face once his brain realizes it is dead. The excitement and inexperience cause him to snap-shot another round that wasn't even close.

Terek rushes straight for the guys guarding the resonator. The sharpshooters, having given up their positions by firing at Sumi, seem to be getting rapidly cut down by his compatriots, so he dashes through.

He locks his visor onto the eyes of the first guard, who's blaster is trying to come to bear on Terek. The cathar swipes his left hand claws at the brawler, knocking the blaster out of his hand, before Terek's W-35 comes up and tags him in the chest with two rapid fire shots, knocking him to the floor, though he was dead before he even hit it as those two blaster wounds smoke from his chest, and the Mandalorian turns his attention towards one of the still standing troopers.

Jallo's E-14 comes up and he... 'sights' in on one of the sharpshooters but the impacts in their general area throw his aim off as his bolt flies through the space that he should have been but instead impacts the wall... Then the second shot glances off the sharpshooters shoulder but a hit is a hit. <"Mine's still up but they're not happy."> Then his attention shifts towards the brawlers, <"Mai I'm going to shift to those brawlers next if you don't mind makin sure they don't come up from behind me?"> He shifts his stance slightly from the flank he'd been working on to prepare to move into hand to hand range with the brawlers.

Shots ring out from the Mandalorian side picking off the sharpshooters one-by-one with such clean efficiency that the warriors who had originally gotten pinned down by them cheered, <"OYA!"> Only one sharpshooter remained, and she was holding her side from a stinging wound earned from Alor'Dara.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Terek and Sumi contend with the brawlers who sally out to meet them and confine them in the open. This plan might have worked better if there were sharpshooters to reinforce the brawlers, but no such support came, thanks to the rest of the team. One brawler finds death almost immediately after Terek fires a hammered pair of shots into them, the yellow bolt punching through the armor and out their back in a punctured mist of pink that peppered the warriors behind them.

As they fell, Sumi drew her singing blade across the face of one soul, then struck a second time with a bit more gusto, ending their miserable existence. When she turned with a flare of her cape, the blade was stabbed through the guy of another, and she growled before shoving them off its length before pursuing again.

All in all, 1 injured sharpshooter remains, 3 brawlers of which one was nursing a fresh gut wound from a rekking sword.

The targeting whip already feeding data to his HUD, Hadrix continues his steady march forward, <<"Danger Close">> a warning issues before anyone decides to go charging in with demolitions for the shielding system. Brackets in his heads-up changing from red to bright green with a flickering X in middle.

Leaning forward, movements halted for that instant, the guided missile from his jetpack launches with a hiss of compressed fuel jets and spirals out for the resonator.

<<"Gripper?">>

<<"Ready to scan.">>

The explosion at the resonator hurling debris outward like a blazing floral bloom, smoke and soot belching after, the shielding system struck solidly by the ordnance.

"I am pretty sure that was why they sent me out here." To keep Jallo from being kilt from behind, you know? Mai, though, did not let a bit of humor get in the way of the job that needed doing, and even as the enemy fell, she simply moved from one target to the next. Now, the last of the sharpshooters. Better to clean the nest, especially if she might find something up there she could use. Always a bonus. The shooter who had not known enough to lie down until the fighting had passed, was soon disabused of their mistake and laid down...permanently.

Zena swings the carbine again, aiming at the wounded brawler. She takes a step forward as she pulls the trigger, finding a crack in the ground that makes her step off by just enough. The warrior can feel the heat as the blaster bolt misses by centimeters.

"Frag," she mutters to herself, resetting her feet and marching forward in step with the crew.

Bigger scale battles are definitely their own unique experience, and chaotic as all hell to a young Mandalorian. This doesn't deter Kademir at all, though his targets of opportunity keep getting themselves deleted by others. No hesitation, just acting without undue haste, no wasting energy as much as possible. Though he is excited, he's just barely keeping it in check.

A rocket blasts off, and he feels a jealous pang of 'Some day. I will have one of my own.'

With everything going on he spots the two Kora in the middle of brawlers. While they are holding their own clearly enough, there is nothing wrong with a little inter-clan relations. This comes in the form of Kade dropping the E-11 on it's sling to his chest. Activating the Dreadfinder's jetpack to fur-missile himself forwards into the thick of it.

His landing isn't perfection, but it's a landing that allows him to draw out the Bilari weapon in sword form as he touches down. The blade lights up segmented with its crackling purple energy. Kade uses the momentum to straight up stab a guard in the chest, it's not graceful. Still deadly.

As the blody slides off the blade, Kademir in excitement mutters his own critique through his helmet speakers. <"Glad Dad didn't see that one. I hate running sprints.">

A blaster bolt catches Terek in the beskar, sparks flying off as the energy disperses against the metal and he stumbles back from the impact.

The cathar is apparently very upset at being shot, because he rises back to his full height and rushes the onderonian down, catching him with a shoulder block and knocking him to the ground.

Growling as he follows after him, he plants one foot on his hand as he reaches for the blaster, and then pulls the trigger while aiming down, <"You did say we only needed the king and princess.">

Jallo's movement towards the brawlers slows fairly quickly as he looks at the rapidly thinning numbers and instead brings his carbine up snapping off a shot at one watching him drop his aim shifts towards another one but completely misses his shot hitting the dirt well behind the brawler, <"One down but that was just a mercy kill they were already dead just didn't realize it yet.">

The explosion of the resonator echoed throughout Iziz city, but at this close range, it was deafening. A kinetic blast of unseen energy swept out like a sudden gust of wind before the slower sound of the explosion followed, churning up dust, shattered stone, and other small bits of debris. The shield responsible for keeping the Mandalorians out of the great hall began to shut down, its energy grid no longer sustained, shimmered into the void leaving the way open to proceed.

Members of the exterior guard were all but eradicated by Mandalorian forces. The sharpshooter picked off by Amaia, the brawlers by Kade, Alor'Dara, Terek, and Alor'Kora. With all resistance down, Sumi sheathes her sword and motions. <"Let's go, people. Inside before they get the notion to flee the scene.">

That notion had certainly crossed the Princess' mind as she watched, hopelessly, as the shields to the throne room failed. Retreating back to the throne and behind the line of 7 elite Kingsguard, she and her father wait for a miracle as swords and rifles are presented to the invaders.

They close the distance quickly as to not sacrifice an advantage to the invading Mandalorians, but the luck of tactics remained to be seen. Sumi rushes right for one, drawing out her baton to engage at close quarters!

<<"Aye, Terek - King and Princess are capture targets. No others needed.">>

Hadrix's voice grumbles out, glaring behind his visor at the kings guard presented, rifle drop-grabbed to be held at its midpoint and the big man's head turns in small ticks, targeting information being collected by his helmet and fed to other systems by the antennae whip that lifts to 'broadcast' mode alongside his helmet.

Left arm raising and he continues his forward march, launcher extending and a passel of micro-missiles sliding into prepared position.

<<"Be ready to stun them if we have to.">>

As the group advanced further into the grounds, Mai had a moment to reflect on what she could have done if she had had the time to turn that old turret into a walking throne. Oh, for the days of brash youth. Well, certainly she still had some of that in her as she moved on ahead, weapon still drawn sighting along it so as to take on the next round of combatants as soon as she spied one. As soon as she identified one of the enemy, she fired, racking another load into the chamber. That, at least, was a familiar sound. Screaming women? Woman? Not so much.

As they advance, Zena keeps pace, despite being pretty short. She troops forward, boots thunking onto the floor as they make it into the throne room. She takes it in. Opulence. Decadence. Weakness. Well, in this case, anyway. It's unearned. These soft people were born into it. They did nothing to gain it for themselves.

She'd spit but she's wearing a helmet.

Instead, she just blasts one of the Kings Guard who had already been shot, watching the man go down with a smoking hole in his chest. <<"This seems too easy. There's gonna be another shoe to drop, right?">>

The reminder to prepare to stun gets a nod of acknowledgement. It takes a moment to register he needs to speak sometimes. <<"Copy. This will stun nicely when the time is right.">> For now, he leaves it in sword mode. There are still enemies to contend with.

All Kade's vision narrows down, he stops trying to look around at all at once, intentionally limiting his focus to immediate concerns. No tunnel vision, just taking a deep breath through his snout and tuning out the unnecessary. His body language changes as he follows Sumi's charge into the thick of it. His motions become more deliberate, utilizing his long stride to his advantage.

Kademir moves like a duelist, the purple-segments of the solid blade before him. He even takes his time to sketch a salute to his chosen target bringing the sword-form chain-whip up before his visor, and then swiping it down. The movement telegraphs his opening gambit enough to be parried. Kademir immediately shifts his grip on the weapon choosing a simply backhanded stab up underneath the guard's armpit. The King's Guard is left alive, but clearly weakening.

The reminder to prepare to stun gets a nod of acknowledgement. It takes a moment to register he needs to speak sometimes. <<"Copy. This will stun nicely when the time is right.">> For now, he leaves it in sword mode. There are still enemies to contend with.

There's no way out, the Mandalorians have made sure of that. Now they just need to close the trap the rest of the way. With the shield down all that stands between them and the king and princess are a bunch of corpses who don't know it yet.

Terek rushes in with the group, moving to try to find some cover as he opens fire. Spotting Jallo's shot at one of the Kings Guard, he follows suit, firing a pair of blasts at that same guard before he can fire back at them, <"Your highness, if you care for the lives of your men, you can surrender!"> He calls out over the r oar of the battle. He doubts it'll do much but who knows.

Jallo sweeps left and right as they advanced further in before they get to the final line of Kings Guard. His E-14 comes up and he snaps off a pair of shots the first one missing as usual however the second one is a solid hit on one of the fresher looking guards.

The Kingsguard prove their mettle against experienced Mandalorians and come up short when their tactic to immediately attack fails, and 2 die because of it. The fight spreads out in the room, guards using ranged and melee to engage their foes. Meanwhile, the Princess hides behind her father's throne as the King sits and watches, his sunken eyes and solemn expression a clear indication he had long ago accepted death was inevitable.

The fight continues.

The kings guards' movements are enough to keep half of those who remain out of target lock long enough for the Al'Verde Kora to growl in thinning patience. His forward march stopping and a pair of micro-missiles crafted of Mandalorian Iron launch. Their flight proving the name of the rocket darts, whistling rockets that arc out in an almost chaotic flight path.

Hadrix is rising when the first is thrown back by the spinning munition drilling through armor and bursting within their abdomen, their weapon clattering to the ground and their arms thrown wide on impact shortly after. Feet away another of their fellows is taken under the arm, lifted in a kushiban-hop and sliding a meter from the kinetic force of the surprisingly powerful gyrodart.

The big man is walking again, swinging his rifle back up an ready to shoulder it for firing.

Mai had made it this far unscathed, and that was to the good. That she made it this far and no further was...less good. As the guards surrounding the king turned on the incoming mandalorians, perhaps some word had gotten back to them about the sharpshooter she had killed when they were almost down, because at least two of them target the Rattataki. Perhaps more, but two was enough to blast the woman back, though she did manage to keep hold of her weapon. "I'm fine!" (She wasn't fine.) "Complete the mission!" (That was the important thing.) While they did that, Mai used her good arm to dig around for her emergency medical supplies. Not the best choice, but better than bleeding out.

The guards keep coming, and Zena keeps shooting. One starts to break towards her, and she pegs him in center mass with a bolt from her blaster carbine. He doesn't go down, but he staggers. She shakes her head a little, shifting her position and dropping to one knee. She's stationary now, but steadier.

Maybe this will help her with the slightly unfamiliar gun. Maybe.

The is one visor that turns towards Terek as the challenge slash offer is issued. It's a bold strategy, cot'on let's see if it pays off for him. Not immediately, it appears. Kademir is mindful of his motions now, he doesn't need to strike down someone he should be stunning. Fortunately, with guards up close and personal he doesn't have time to worry about that just yet.

Little missiles enter the fray, and Kademir mentally notes one more thing to try to track down. Some day. Today is not that day, he's busy sizing up against diminishing targets. Another shift, this time his attack less straight forwards but initially parried once again. He rides out the motion to shift and perform another backstab. Right through the abdomen, bad way to die, but it's a fatal blow this time around.

Kademir's visor snaps up, already seeking other targets, prepared to switch out the whip as necessary to deal with royals directly

Terek has a pair of throwing knives on his bandolier, and he pulls them off with his left hand and throws them at one of the kingsguard as he advances. Unfortunately for him, he misjudges the distance just enough that the knives clatter off of the guards armor by the hilt and bounce to the floor.

The guard and Terek have to exchange a look between the two of them, and Terek gives the guy a shrug. He's probably distracting him long enough for him to get shot.

Jallo takes a solid shot from the Kings Guard but the Beskar on his chest takes the brunt of the blaster bolts. Bringing up his E-14 snapping off another pair of shots at the Kings Guard with of course the inevitable miss followed by a solid hit of his own.

The battle draws to its conclusion as more of the Kingsguard join the deceased. The one remaining is fighting Sumi, who swings at him with a pulsing baton of crackling electricity. At one point, she scores a hit, and is rewarded with a reciprocated blow that swept her right off her feet. The century old warrior lands hard on the stone flooring with a clatter, immediately rolling away to avoid being struck again with a killing blow.

One guard stands between the crew and the King and Princess, and before they can do anything more, the side of their face is blown off by a shot discharged from the handcannon Alor'Kast is holding. Kingsguard down, and the King and Princess are all that remain. <"Secure the area,"> Kast orders, he himself striding toward the throne. The princess began to weep as the King bids her be quiet, and he rises from his throne to say, "If it is a bent knee you seek, then I must disappoint you and your savages. I will not grovel before a lesser race."

Kast chuckles, <"I admire your salt, your Majesty, and will honor your memory for remaining defiant until the end."> Kast locks back the hammer on his handcannon. <"This shot is for vengeance. You took my son, made him a slave, mistreated our people despite a mutual peace, and made trophies of our armor without giving us the grace to bury and honor our dead.">

It was true what Kast said, and had the team looked about the throne room, they'd find displays of battle-torn Mandalorian armor in glass cases. Bones of their former occupants were also on display, holes in their skulls and other evidence of mutilation and torture. <"Today, justice rings true, and the armor that was taken will be given a new purpose. Find the peace and rest you failed to secure while you lived, King.">

The shot that was callously fired after rang out at close range, and the man it was intended for, slumped back into the throne, organic matter all over the wall and part of the seat.

<"Since his Majesty failed to secure the true peace, I ask it again of his heir, the Princess Thea. Bend the knee, save your people, and join me in matrimony as penance for the crimes committed by you and your father. Do this, and you will come to no harm. I swear it."> Kast holds the weapon out to his side, its barrel still molten orange and steaming.

Princess Thea looks to Alor'Kast with anger, defiance, but also defeat. He just executed her father. With no other choice, she steps around the throne, gulps, and takes a knee before him.

<"Good. The war is over. Our marriage will usher in a new age of respect, tolerance, and freedom. Gone are the days of slavery and savagery. I will not take the title of King, nor you Queen. A princess you will remain, and I, the Despot of Onderon. Our sons will one day rule as King, and long may our peace and prosperity reign. Now rise, Princess, and tend to your father's arrangements. We will honor his passing.">

Turning to the Mandalorians, <"And to those who made this campaign possible, I gift you a portion of beskar from the vaults of this palace. You will find many armor sets from our fallen, it is time our iron return to the Mandalorians who need it most. -- OYA!"