Imperial Throne room

[Grand Admiral Xizar]

The elaborate throne room in which Xizar received guests was decked out in the full Imperial atire one would expect from such an egotistical Emperor. Busts of himself, flags bearing the Palpatinian logo and other such memorabilia were arranged throughout the room to remind all visitors just who they were meeting. In a final display of self-absorbtion, a map of the galaxy showing the extensive borders of the Empire (many systems the Empire did not actually possess were included) was superimposed over everything. It was the throne of the Imperator without a doubt.

[John Hammond]

John Hammond and his team arrived elegantly to the Imperial Head Quarters situated in Bastion's core. Arriving at landing platform 4, John quickly yet without losing his important posture headed towards a small human cyborg relations droid which greeted them coldly.

I'm here as an uninvited guest. It is of the maximum importance that I see whoever is in command here . Hammond showed the droid another code, hoping the old encryption would still be present on the obviously new technology.

Right this way.

John and two stormtroopers were taken to the Imperial Throne Room, where they entered politely and waited for the Grand Admiral to meet them.

[John Hammond]

Waiting for what seemed hours, a red-suited guard approached John.

The Grand Admiral is not here at the moment. Would you kindly communicate yourself with his excellency when he is available? Or would you prefer to wait here until he arrives. We do not have any notice that he will be here any time soon.

I'll contact him when he is available. Thank You.

With those last words, John left, furious towards the large archway that led the way to his spaceship. He jolted into space, thinking of what to do now...

[Kardan Orkuna]

The Lady of the Flame dropped into the orbit of Bastion, Kardan watched as the planet grew larger. He found a nice place to land and did. He found the entrance to the Palace, time to roll.

"Who are you?" came a question from a Stormtrooper.

"Well, I'll tell you. I am an ambassador from the planet of. . ." Before they could act he pulled his saber, as his mercenaries drew their blasters and melee weapons. Kardan cut through the guards as his men fired their weapons. Two mercs ran forward and set charges onto the doors, they were quite heavy, and they couldn't open them. So. . .they would do what they do best, Blow it up!

OOC:I'll wait for the opposition

[John Hammond]

John's men were all stationed in the inside of the palace. They were resting, not far from the palace entrance. When blasters were heard, a loud alarm rose inside the palace. John's men quickly got up, got their blasters out and headed towards the entrance. The commander was missing, but they had emergency drills ready for any given time.

Most of the stormtroopers found themselves behind the large archways in the palace entrance, waiting for the intruders to attack. Two snipers were placed on each side of the entrance balcony's and from there they had a direct shot towards the intruders. Only glass windows stood in their way. With a single placed shot that cut through the glass, the shot zoomed directly towards the heart of a mercenary.

When the glass had broken, the sniper quickly noticed the lightsaber glistening. Without hesitation he yelled towards the inside of the palace

JEDI!!!!!

OOC: remember my troops were from the palpatinian era, so...they quickly related the lightsaber with a jedi...not a sith

[Kardan Orkuna]

Kardan laughed as they called him a jedi, and as they shot one of his mercs. He dashed in with a fury, yelling and screaming, deflecting blaster bolts and wildly cutting into stormtroopers with his crimson blade, as his mercs provided a distraction for the snipers. This was all too easy. . .

[John Hammond]

"Hold it steady, hold it steady!!!" The stormtroopers moved quickly and surefootedly, allowing the palace guards to engage the enemy first, as they maneuvred to better ground.

"It's a Jedi, repeat, it's a Jedi!" There was only one squadron in the Palace, which was unfortunate for dealing with a Jedi, but it didn't matter.

The squadron split up into three groups; two attack and one backup group. They opened up to form a triangle, widening their ranks to increase their range, forming a curved front.

As soon as they were in formation, using the palace grounds as their cover, they opened fire. Both attack groups concentrated their firepower upon the sith, whilst the backup team pinned down the mercs so that the Palace Guards could take care of them.

"Come here, Jedi scum, we know how to deal with your kind." The Captains each nodded as the Commander pointed out the protocol for dealing with Jedi. They had dealt with many Masters personally and survived to tell the tale. They knew what they were dealing with.

OOC: If I were you, I wouldn't get too close... Just saying.

[Kardan Orkuna]

Kardan laughed a slightly psychotic laugh, he was gone now, his mind filled with battle lust, his body pulsing with rage and adrenaline. He watched as the commanders instructed on taking down jedi, he raised his hands and unleashed a flow of Dark side lightning. The energy flowed through two troopers, and he laughed as they hit the floor, in spasms.

His men were laying down fire on the snipers and guards keeping them down. A merc fumbled through a pack and found what he was looking for "AHA! Now we're talking!" he pulled out a Thermal Detonator. He activated the grenade and tossed it over his cover. Landing in the midst of some of the Suppressors.

[John Hammond]

"Jedi Master, darn it!" The Captains rolled on their back, and stood up again, and from their hips came a bright glow.

As the thermal detonator was launched, a trooper caught it in the air, and sent it back to where it came from.

"Open up, now!" The Palace guards had managed to set up two machine guns near the entrance, covered by the stormtroopers, and were ready to fire. The backup team moved behind them, whilst the Palace Guards and the other two attack groups opened up to allow the guns to fire, all the while concentrating their fire towards the mercs.

On the floor above them, five troopers were in place, two of them snipers, and they opened fire on those mercs that were giving out directions.

"I told you, Jedi, stand down. You can't win this fight." Neither attack group had yet taken any deaths, but there were two casualties, with a trooper wounded in the hip, unable to walk, and the other hit in the shoulder, but still firing from behind his cover.

[Kardan Orkuna]

This is getting annoying. . .JUST DIE ALREADY!, Kardan screamed in his head as he deflected blaster bolts and pulsed the lightning at them. He got angry, he channeled his rage into strength, as his body pulsed with dark side energy. This was going to be harder than he thought.

The Mercs dove away from the Detonator as it exploded, but one of the 28 men with Kardan lost their life to the fiery blast. The mercs took cover from the Turret across the way.

[John Hammond]

That's no Jedi... The Squad Commander frowned as he watched the man uselessly try to electrocute his troopers. Something wasn't right here.... Still, it was good to see that Palpatine's scientists had done their work. This technology was millenia old, but it still worked perfectly.

The Palace Guards were taking heavy casualties, rushing out from the entrance to do the Force knew what. The ground was littered with dying bodies, but the Elites held their ground.

"I want those mercs down, now!" As the Captain shouted into his comm. unit, two laser bolts came from far behind the battle lines, the snipers having taken their shots.

Meanwhile, using the Palace Guards for cover, four of Hammond's troopers were setting up four very small iron rods, forming a semicircle around the battle. All four of them nodded when they were ready.

"We've got a lock-on on his magnetic reading, sir,"

"Good, bring him - Agh!" The Captain was shocked again as the lightning struck him, making him fall. He was in pain, but alive. "Take it out."

The troopers nodded. They activated the rods. For a short moment, they became electric blue, then shot an erratic shot of electricity that sparkled around Kardan. It seemed erratic, but most of it was actually targeted at his lightsaber, attracted by the magnetic field it created, aimed at disabling it.

Meanwhile, another brave Guard, using the cover of the electric power shot, rushed forward, an activated thermal detonator in his hand. He held it there for a moment, timing himself, then, when he had calculated it was about to explode, threw it at the group of mercs. As soon as it left his hand, however, he was brutally shot down, smoke steaming from his chest.

[Kardan Orkuna]

Kardan. . .was. . .Impressed. This was a bit of a surprise, and he liked it. He looked at the nearest Stormtrooper, and rushed him with his bare hands, slamming his fists into his skull, draining the life out of him with every hit. . .He was using Force Drain on this poor trooper. He raised up and rushed toward another one. Even though the trooper was wearing a helmet, Kardan could feel his fear, his stinking fear. He grabbed the trooper by the head and crushed the helmet into his head. He laughed as he took the blaster he was holding, and ran back to the Mercenary squad pinned down. He looked up at the snipers and smiled. He opened up with a frenzy of blaster bolts.

[John Hammond]

The attack groups moved forward, forcing the mercenaries back and concentrating their area of fire in a very small range. Contrasting with their efficiency, which was marked by remarkably low casualties, the Palace Guards were being taken down almost as soon as they came in: Brave, but stupid.

More troopers kept pouring out. Soon, six troopers were working to set up another machine gun at a strategically reinforced site, from which they would be able to, hopefully, take down the remaining enemy.

The Captain advanced with his battle group. As they moved past the lightsaber, he knelt down and picked it up. It felt hot, even through the armour, and it was charred in places. Useless. He stood up, and placed it in his belt.

Meanwhile, the backup group had managed to bring up two more weapons from another age. They looked slightly like mortar throwers, but they were connected to a large container through a hose. After setting it up, they pressed the on-button. With a whirling sound, the engines powered up: A powerful jet of ionized water was fired upwards, raining on the mercenaries, wetting them completely.

Whoever these intruders were, they were going down.

[Kardan Orkuna]

"MEN! FALL BACK NOW! GET OUT!" Kardan said as he ran out, but this wasn't the end of this bloody contest. "Victory or death!" Kardan slammed an explosive charge into a support column, this would give him a right surprise. He had an Idea now. . .

[John Hammond]

"Fall back! Take cover!" The troopers launched their last grenades at the doors, and retreated as far as they could. When the pillar exploded, many were killed by the debris sent flying.

The Captains stood up, coughing. This wasn't like anything they had encountered before. They would have to report back to Hammond as soon as possible.

Outside, waiting for Kardan and his team were four squadrons (96 troopers), set up in a defensive perimeter around the landing platform. Four machine gun emplacements had been set up, and there was strong sniper and air support.

"Stand down, you can't win."

The men readied their rifles, taking aim at the mercenaries that poured out from the entrance. As the first few came out, they were shot ruthlessly, a warning to the rest that they should halt and come out slowly, unarmed.

OOC: If you think this is too much to handle for you, I'll change this post. I think you've seen enough imperial might for this battle, hehehe.