20031014 PBEM

2.21.4787 Republic Reckoning

In place of a game tonight, here's a little cutscene happening, well, right about "now" in game...

Across the clearing, in the shadow of a half-collapsed tent, Laut sits, meditating, with a wry smile on his face. Next to him, the chassis of one of At'!'chk's battle droids topples in the wind... or did it move? One leg of the half-destroyed robot propels the machine, scraping across the ground, towards the remains of one of its compatriots. Manipulators extend from hidden compartments and begin cannibalizing the other downed droid, removing the mostly-intact head module and attaching it to itself. A few more scavenged parts, from weapons lying on the ground to other parts from droids, and it is complete. It walks back to Laut and positions itself to stand guard over him, joined shortly by two more rebuilt droids.

Across the camp, the last truck of prisoners is loading, the one ahead moving through the now trampled wire fence. To'iir looks around and sees two of the droids move around the corner. Both are obviously rebuilt, one sporting a machine gun instead of the blaster on its left arm, the other with a pair of blaster rifles for its tail mount. They scan the area, ignoring the prisoners twenty yards away, then take off after the escaping truck, firing at it as they run. "No, not you too, you bastards!" shouts To'iir as she races after them, using the Force to let her run faster than any natural humanoid could. But the droids are still faster. They easily catch up to the truck, one leaping on the back compartment and spraying it with machine gun fire at point blank range after shrugging off a few blaster shots from a passenger. The other grabs the cab and pulls. The truck goes up onto two wheels, then flips. Both droids pounce onto the truck, ripping mechanical components from it and fixing themselves as the survivors numbly run away from the truck.

"We're approaching the base now," says the pilot over the command channel in the pinnace. "The fighters were diverted to intercept a ship coming in-system, so we're it for air support. Where do you want us to drop you off?"

The captain in charge of the troops replies "I'm not sure. What does it look like down there?"

"I honestly can't say, sir. There's some pretty thick cloud cover over the base. We're just entering it now. I'll drop down and do an overflight." The craft is buffeted by wind as you drop lower. Through the small windows in the troop compartment, you can see the darkness envelop the craft.

The Jedi shiver and look at each other as they realize what is going on here. "Pilot, this is not a natural storm," says Igashu.

"Well, it's not exactly your little fluffy cloud here. Hang on, this is going to get rough."

"This is an evil place we're going back to," says Elbram quietly. "I'm not sure we're ready to find out what lies in wait for us."

"We have to. To get Quindo back," says Igashu. "Then we can get the hell out of here."

A particularly strong jolt shakes the craft, and as several of the troops are getting sick (along with several of the Jedi), you can feel the temperature of the craft drop another ten degrees. You fall for what seems like forever as the craft is slammed towards the ground in a microburst, then are crushed into your seats as the pilot tears up for more altitude. Then, it stops.

A quick look out the viewport shows the camp has a small eye centered on it, and you can see a few flashes indicating continuing fighting. But what draws the most attention is the complete devastation of the camp. Formerly neat rows of tents lie strewn across the grounds, some over the barbed wire perimeter. The command buildings are half collapsed, the communications building is on fire.

And somewhere, at the center of it all, is the Sith Lord who is causing all of this. His presence now burns in your minds, icy cold, but you are already growing numb to it. You can't localize him.

"Trucks moving away to the northwest, fighting in the northern quadrant of the base," reports the pilot. "Looks rather quiet everywhere else."

"Okay, drop us off south of the admin building. We'll sweep across the base from that side. Have Tiger 2 go meet up with the trucks, three will land with us. Stay near for air cover."

"Aff. Coming around. Thirty seconds to drop-off."

Below, a robot comes out of the admin building. This one has completely rebuilt its weapon systems, carrying a trio of MANPAD launchers on each hardpoint. It scans the sky, seeing the two pinnaces circle. Raising an arm and its tail towards them, it lets loose a pair of missiles from each.

"SAM! SAM! SAM!" screams the copilot over the intercom. The craft banks hard left, but its too late. The missiles hit the left repulsor drive and the left turbine engine, sending shrapnel through the compartment. A private sitting next to Elbram is sliced in two by a turbine blade and the captain's arm is nearly removed by the same blade. A few other minor injuries are visible, but then you feel the sickening drop as you plummet out of the sky.

The other pinnace is not nearly as lucky. Both repulsor drives are hit, and it falls like a rock. With minimal control, the pilot manages to nose dive into the SAM droid, smashing it, pancaking his craft, and skidding the combination through the admin building and out the other side. The combination lands near a pair of rebuilding droids, who instantly leap on the skidding wreck and begin tearing parts of it out to incorporate into themselves.

Your pilot does his best, but with only a few seconds to react, the craft hits the ground hard, listing badly to the right. Plowing up dirt, the nose compacts, the remains of the right wing dig in and the craft flips. And again, and again. Bodies are tossed around the cabin and you hear a sickening snap followed by a scream and then your whole world goes black.