|
I see the contestants are making their way out onto the starting grid. This article was originally created as an entry for a Dark Crusade competition and is not official DJB canon content. It is preserved here for historical purposes only.
|
History
- "Now go get me a Super Star Destroyer."
- ―Muz Ashen, Grand Master
Following the destruction of Zoraan's remaining forces, the Grand Master declared to the Summits of the Brotherhood that each Clan and House was to send their best teams to conquer a hangar aboard the Avenger II. There, they would await further orders from the Dark Council.
As the situation developed, a select few teams were designated as the main effort, with remaining teams executing specific missions to support them; for example, securing hangars and disabling security systems. All of this was to be done simultaneously in order to cause mass confusion, thus allowing Brotherhood units to lay quick siege to the vessel.
The distraction of the forces aboard the flagship would allow the primary teams to move more swiftly, with minimal detection, to take control of the ship and claim it for the Brotherhood.
Thus began the race to claim the Avenger II.
Team Alpha
Wuntila faces down a mutant Tarentatek.
Arcona assembled all of its best in the form of five teams. Each of them played a vital part in securing the ship, but the Arconans were not swift enough to reach the bridge in time. In their efforts, however, Consul Wuntila Arconae was able to use his primal affinity to tame a deranged mutant-Terentatek.
- "Is he...riding the Terentatek!?"
- ―Socorra Erinos, witnessing the feat.
Casting aside his weapon, Wuntila faced the creature man to beast, and in the end the Dragon’s will triumphed. Once tamed, Wuntila was able to ride the Terentatek. From his mount, and with the help of Marick, Socorra, Teroch, and Tsainetomo, the Consul was able to dispatch the second mutant-Terentatek. The loss of these creatures was not in vain, for the samples were recovered and offered to the Grand Master; a minor victory for Arcona, but something to be taken away nonetheless.
Team Bravo
Led by Valhavoc, Dark Forge’s Sergeant at the time, Team Bravo was designated to secure Hangar 10 of the Avenger II with the assistance of Tau Squad. Tirano was the only member of the team not part of Dark Forge Battleteam, an attachment to the group that was sent over from House Qel Droma. Skye Dulovic was a mysterious new arrival to the Brotherhood and to Dark Forge, and newly Knighted Montresor was moving rapidly through the ranks, eager to prove his mettle. Dark Jedi Master Troutrooper rounded off the team, and the group had high hopes of being the individuals to capture the Grand Master’s prize.
The initial assault into the hangar was met by light resistance, which the team easily neutralized. The tempo of the battle significantly altered upon the arrival of two of Zoraan’s lieutenants. The Equite level combatants assault incapacitated Valhavoc before the remainder of the Team rallied and defeated the pair. After the fight Tau Squad’s Medic were able to get the Team Leader conscious again, just as a priority message came through to the team informing them of their next objective.
Bravo team had quickly and unexpectedly transitioned from a supporting effort to that of the tip of the spear for the main effort. Failure was certainly not an option, as Arcona’s success hung in the balance.
- "Bravo Team, stack on me."
- ―Valhavoc
Instinct took over as the team swiftly and expertly positioned themselves to support Valhavoc on the wall just outside of the Control room. Each member of the team oriented themselves to provide adequate cover to the breaching element. Once set Val motioned to Monty to come forward to set the breaching charges. No sooner had the order been given then the task was complete and Monty sounded off to warn the team of the impending explosion. A deafening boom reverberated through the corridor as a fiery explosion ripped through the steel doors with ease.
- "Control room secured, zero casualties sustained, no equipment lost...bridge security disabled."
- ―Valhavoc
Wasting no time, the team stormed the room and surveyed the area in anticipation of a fight that never came. Valhavoc radioed a situational update while Troutrooper expertly worked to disable the bridge security. The team's efforts were instrumental to the Brotherhood's victory.
Team Charlie
The Avenger II conflict tested the limits and fortitude of the gatekeepers of Team Charlie. The team took to the more aggressive and offensive side of the battle, attacking the enemy head upon reaching the Star Destroyer. They faced countless obstacles: Stormtroopers, droids, and even other Dark Jedi. However, at the same time, the team groaned under the weight of internal conflict. Unlike other teams who had a clear leader, Team Charlie found themselves at the mercy of two rivals, Inahj and Zakath, who had both fought years before; as such, there was an instant bitterness between Andrelious' apprentice, Incendus, and Zakath's apprentice, Nath Voth. When the two were near, there was constant bickering. Incendus remained with Damon Tye for most of the battle, the two working together to eliminate enemies, while Nath Voth was more independent and worked alone.
Charlie's main priority was to clear out enemies on the flagship long enough for the other Arconan forces to arrive. As in any high intensity initiative, there were setbacks, most of which came in the form of minor injuries. Inahj had fractured an ankle, Damon had suffered from burns, Zakath had been struck by a poisoned blade and it had caused him to go as far as to even harm his own apprentice, Nath. Incendus had received small blaster wounds, but they were not too serious. Overall, the mission was a success. The other squadrons who had not been on the cruiser arrived in time for a full scale assault; Darth Necar was executed by the Brotherhood, and the ship was taken by Brotherhood forces.
Team Delta
- "My dear, I should have a chat with whomever trained your sister. To not sense such an obvious move shouldn’t go unpunished."
- ―Ood, to Frost after he had blinded her sister, Reaper.
When orders were given to the Quaestor of Galeres to support the attempts to get bodies aboard the SSD Avenger that hung in orbit over Antei, Sanguinius commanded the Galerans in his presence to join him in the endeavor: Ood Bnar, the old, mad Neti; Vynn Salm, the former Palatinaean; Kratus Vahillus, the embittered old half-cyborg former pirate; and Wes Biriuk, the soon-to-be Sergeant of Spectre Cell.
The group of Dark Jedi rushed to the nearest shuttle, co-opting the pilot to take them up to the Avenger as part of the wave of ships approaching the Super Star Destroyer. The terrified pilot was forced at blaster point by Biriuk to fly straight into the hangar bay, which was filled with enemy combatants.
Before the shuttle had even come to a stop, as it skidded along the hangar deck, the door opened and five Dark Jedi leapt out, led by their Quaestor. Lightsabers ignited, the Arconans took to the fore, assaulting the One Sith troopers stationed in the hangar. Their attack allowed the other strike teams from Arcona to infiltrate the Avenger, as the One Sith concentrated on the Hangar Bay.
Team Echo
Although appearing to be a strong team on paper, Team Echo found themselves bogged down by infighting. Early on in their mission, team leader Cethgus was forced to rescue the young Twi'lek K'tana, whose foolish mistake endangered herself and her team.
The backlash from this incident strained relations between the members of Team Echo, leaving them pinned in an auxiliary hangar for the majority of the mission.
Team Foxtrot
- "”It’s all over but the shooting.”"
- ―Etah to his team as they breached the Avenger II
Arconan intelligence reports expressed concern that the SSD Avenger II would flee the system and head to a more secure sector, effectively marooning all members of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood that were aboard. To prevent this fear from becoming a reality, Etah assembled Team Foxtrot, which included core members of the Spectre Cell Battleteam with two reinforcements. Their mission was to take the engine room and disable the engine without destroying it, and then occupy the room until the SSD was subdued.
The team moved about using a type of unorthodox military movement called ‘bounding overwatch’ in conjunction with another tactical concept called ‘initiative based tactics’, meaning each person moved as their training dictated with a minimum amount of direction. Etah meticulously prepared his ad-hoc team with diagrams, readouts, blueprints, technical specs, and walkthroughs. The Equite members of the team, Etah and Putra, used lightsabers and blasters while the junior members of the team used blaster rifles. In the end, they managed to make it to the engine room, but found that the controls had been destroyed and needed to be configured from the bridge itself.
Ultimately, their mission was a mixed success; the Avenger II never succeeded in fleeing the system, but Team Foxtrot was not credited for that development.