Devaneaux vs. Devaneaux: Father's Revenge (TSO, Invite Only Otherwise)

[Artimus Devaneaux]

YV-666 Light Freighter Hand of Artimus
Sith Order Landing Platform
Coronet, Corellia

Artimus Devaneaux stood silently on the landing platform near the Sith Palace in Coronet, waiting for his latest "conscript", a fellow darksider named Jorshal Vuntana. Jorshal seemed very enthusiastic to prove himself, and Artimus approved of his lust for battle. Artimus' son Kieran may be more martially-trained than he was, but Artimus would win this war by experience...and trickery. Two things Artimus had over his wet-behind-the-ears son....for the moment.

As far as he knew, Kieran remained at the shipyard at Sumitra Sector, and the Imperial turncoat who commanded the 12th Fleet was there with him. Battling Kieran's two ships, despite of the Jedi captain's martial experience, would be easier than battling the Assault Frigate of a man even more experienced than Kieran was. Artimus would bide his time until this Colonel Yamagi left, and then, with his newfound ally with him, he would strike. Kieran would never know what hit him. Artimus could get away with at least one of the ships under Kieran's command....both, if he was lucky. "Major" Demon-Kieran was no use anymore, he was no better than an Imperial lackey now. Sure, he served honorable men like Desaria and T'chort, but honor alone had never won wars.

But deception had won wars....

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Jorshal readjusted the bag over his shoulder as he entered the landing platform. Inside was something special he had planned for later, something that would give him an advantage in the uphill battle he was preparing to fight. Around his waist was a thick belt featuring a multitude of weapons ranging from three generic lightsabers, a number of thermal detonators, an ionization blaster and several pouches of materials he thought he could possibly use. Inside durasteel tipped boots were several knives. He wore a dark cuff around his forearm which featured a poisonous fanged creature of Yuuzhan Vong origin. He had a tight fitting helmet under his other hand that would give him location information as well as thermal and nightvision. Besides his sleeveless shirt, pants and boots he left his skin exposed.

"Hey Arti!" He called from across the platform. "Let's get this show on the road." He was eager for the biggest fight he had faced yet.

[Artimus Devaneaux]

"So you have arrived, and you are set for the battle. Excellent. You will need all of that, in all likelihood." Artimus clipped the ancient double-bladed lightsaber to his belt - the lightsaber of the equally ancient Jedi Master that his son was named for. Standing with Artimus were six hunters, bearing the insignia of the White Hand somewhere on their person.

Artimus stood at the ramp of his ship. "Artimus," he said. "Boarding."

The ramp lowered for the people to board. "Confirmed," came the voice of the ship's computer. Artimus smiled as he said to his companions, "Welcome to the Hand of Artimus, lads. If you'll come aboard, we shall take off shortly."

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Jorshal pushed his way ahead of the other hunters and walked up the ramp. Upon entering he got a good glimpse of the interior, he was impressed as he had no ship of his own. He approached Artimus and set his bag and helmut down on the ground.

"Hey Arti," He said quitely. "I mean, are these other guys necessary? I kind of feel they'll get in the way of my work."

[Artimus Devaneaux]

"These guys are some of my best men. They will drive the ship - or ships - once we get a hold of them," Artimus explained. "They're yours to use at your discretion - but try to use them wisely. They don't take kindly to being used for menial tasks."

[Jorshal Vuntana]

"Eh, they'll do what I tell them to then." He said and glanced back at them. He had never seen anyone of the White Hand in action before, but he easily assumed they wouldn't keep up with him.

"Alright then, let's get going." He said to Artimus. He was getting uneasy waiting around.

[Artimus Devaneaux]

Artimus seated himself at his pilot's chair and activates all the ship's systems for takeoff. "Strap in, gentlemen."

The Hand of Artimus lifted off smoothly from its landing pad and made its way up into orbit, readying for the coming conflict that it will enter at Sumitra...

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Jorshal sat down in a seat and strapped in. He was eager for the conflct to begin.

[Kieran Devaneaux]

Defender Star Destroyer NRV Skyrider
Escorting NRV Republic to Fleet Rendezvous
Captain Kieran Devaneaux, Commanding

"Captain, we're in the lane......we will rendezvous with the fleet in approximately eight hours." Kieran Devaneaux gave the nav officer the slightest of glances before speaking. "Keep your eyes open; I have a feeling we may have visitors." With a nod, Kieran returned to his silence. He had a gut instinct that someone was hunting them...whoever it was, Kieran guessed the hunter was after the Republic.

"Captain, incoming YV-666 light freighter dropping out of lightspeed." Kieran did not answer. "It matches the identification signature of a freighter you encountered near Deralia. It's registered as the Hand of Artimus."

His father! Kieran glanced sharply at the sensor officer. His father! "You are sure?"

"Without doubt, Captain; it's them."

"Come to battle stations....be on your guard. The captain of that ship is a tricky one."

[Artimus Devaneaux]

"My lord, they found us," one of the White Hand hunters said. "Should we commence our operation?"

Artimus looked at his hunter with a smile. "Take young Jorshal with you. He is in command of this mission. Get onboard the Skyrider and take it intact. Kill Kieran and his crew. And bring me his head."

[Jorshal Vuntana]

"Escape pods." Jorshal said as he headed to the back of the ship. "They'll pick us up through the loading dock and we'll go from there."

The White Hand hunters boarded the escape pods and as they did Jorshal turned to Artimus. "Hey, I want you to realese this in the escape pod when I say." He set the back down against the escape pod door. "It's important."

He slid into one of the pods and jettisoned it towards the Skyrider hoping they would pick him up.

[Kieran Devaneaux]

"Captain, the Hand is jettisoning its escape pods...they are coming in this direction."

Kieran looked up in surprise. Prisoners escaping from Artimus' ship? Then he thought about it - no, can't be. He was interrupted by an engineer who had just come up from the main engineering deck. "Captain, we're losing power! Something is disrupting our engines!"

"What?!" Kieran glanced sharply at his chief engineer. "Confirm that, Commander."

A pause, then he spoke up. "He's right, Captain - we're losing engine power. Some sort of jamming signal that is crippling our ion drives. I think Artimus intends to board the ship."

"Status of the Republic?"

"Doesn't look like anything headed in their direction."

Kieran nodded, realizing he had to make a decision quickly - to save the ship he had helped build. "Get as many senior officers together as possible and tell them to meet me at the Devaneaux's Fury. We need to get to the Republic and get her the hell out of here before Artimus gets her." He sighed. "The Skyrider is now inconsequential."

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Damn. Jorshal thought as he came to the conclusion that the Skyrider would not pick them up. He ha done option, to use telekinesis to pull the pods to where they needed to be. But then again he didn't want to waste his energy. Unless he could tilt his own pod a little and actually guide it to the ship.

The pod tilted and made a loud thud against the hull of Skyrider. Jorshal took one of his lightsabers and cut himself a hole. The heat from the blade melded the two metals together, sealing the vaccum of space out. He pushed through the hull and rolled out into an empty room.

"What was that?" A voice from behind the door.

"I don't know, let's check it out." The other.

Jorshal slammed his fist on the door panal, shutting it. He then thrust the poisonous Yuuzhan Vong creature into the chest of one of the officers. A swift punch took care of the other. As quick as he could, he dressed himself in the officers uniform and threw his excess materials in a bag. He ran to where he believed a control room to be and entered. A few of the men in the room gave him a funny look, but no one had caught on.

"Order's from Sir Devaneaux: Pull in those escape pods." He said and watched as the men complied.

[Kieran Devaneaux]

"All senior officers on board. The department heads have ordered that all men fight hand-to-hand to preserve the ship." The XO looked at his captain. "We'll get her back, sir."

Kieran nodded as he seated himself at his pilot's seat. "Let's get under way." The XO spun around to the comm officer, saying, "Lieutenant, inform the Republic that Captain Devaneaux is coming aboard. And relay our sensor logs to Lord Admiral El'Jonson - he will want to know about this."

"Aye, sir," the comm officer acknowledged.

"Strap in, Commander," Kieran instructed. "This might get rough."

The Devaneaux's Fury lifted off from its landing pad and blasted out of the Skyrider's landing bay, running at high speed for the nearby Republic - just as the Hand of Artimus made its approach....

[Artimus Devaneaux]

"Lock concussion missiles on the Devaneaux's Fury and fire!" Artimus screamed. But it was too late. Kieran's ship was already in the Republic's shield envelope just as the concussion missiles were launched. They smashed into the Republic's shields harmlessly. The Mon Calamari-hybrid Star Destroyer blasted into hyperspace - faster than the Skyrider can hope to be. But one ship was enough for him. "Prepare to bring us aboard the Skyrider."

[Kieran Devaneaux]

But then the Republic came back...with two assault frigates as support. They had returned to Sumitra to call for support. "Attack formation. Prepare to engage."

"Sir, a message just sent from the Skyrider. We cracked their code - it's addressed to Major Demon-Kieran. The Sith scum is calling for Imperial reinforcements."

"If Desaria sends one of his commanders to support their Sith ally, we're in a world of trouble. Get Colonel Yamagi on the horn, tell him we've got company."

[Jorshal Vuntana]

When Jorshal was sure that the escape pods were safely on board, he withdrew onte of the lightsabers and cut down the two leading men in the room. Before anyone at a safe distance could react his shot them with his blaster. The reamining few saw no mercy as they too were cut down by the red blade.

Jorshal tore the jacket and pants off and with his original clothes on he headed to meet with the White Hand assassins. As he rounded a corner on his way to the bay a group of soldiers met him.

"Hold it right there!" They said and pointed their blasters, but did not shoot. Jorshal kept walking until he was close enough that one of the soldiers tried to throw a punch at him. He twisted and broke the arm that threw the punch and kicked the next in the gut. The fight was short and ended with Jorshal on top. Those who had not died already, he executed.

Time was of the essence and he realized he didn't have time to pick a fight with every group of soldiers he came across. Though, when he had the chance he would lob a grenade their way. He was leaving a trail of destruction behind him as he went.

[Teleran Balades]

Cuirassier-class Heavy Cruiser Palpatine's Rage

"Incoming message, Captain. Decrypting now."

Captain Niccoli Gericault threw a surprised glance at the ensign. The youthful comm. officer typed furiously at the console in front of him.

“It’s a request for reinforcements addressed to a Major Demon-Kieran. It’s from a Sith.” The ensign stared up at Gericault with an astonished look on his face. “They’ve boarded a Republic Defender-class Star Destroyer.”

Niccoli turned towards one of the many viewscreens displaying scenes from the exterior cameras. This particular one showed a view of a pair of ships not under his command. They were of an odd, design, a split hull that joined near the mid-section and fanned into a pair of stubby swept-back “wings”. No marking save for a crimson stripe painted along the lateral edges adorned the pitch-black hull. Difficult to see and highly maneuverable; these were the Inquisitoriate’s stealth ships, the Spectre Corvette.

“The frelling ghosts were right.”

Right on cue the speakers encompassing the bridge crackled to life, letting a dark, haunting voice flow into the chamber.

“Captain Gericault, you will make the jump to lightspeed and assist the Sith. We will follow.”

The captain restrained himself from snarling in reply to the smug voice.

“And what, pray tell, are you going to do. Your ships are worth anything in combat.”

The voice again came over the comm. with the same arrogant tone.

“You don’t need big guns to win a battle. Initiate jump in 15 seconds” The speakers abruptly cut out leaving the Captain fuming.
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In a single bright flash, the 750 meter Palpatine’s Rage and her pair of Rapier II Gunships materialized several klicks from the ship.

A single open-frequency broadcast emanated from the heavy cruiser.

”Sith vessels, kindly mark Sovereignty ships as friendlies.”

Niccoli stared at the screen. Something was missing. Where are the Spectres? The Captain’s thought was cut short as he saw the opposition closing in on what he hoped was a friendly Star Destroyer.

“What the frell is that.” Gericault exclaimed gesturing toward a strangely designed ship. His sensor officer spoke up from his station.

“Unknown vessel, Sir, but she has two Assault Frigates with. And their all broadcasting Republic codes.”

Niccoli smiled. “Well we’re just going to have to kill it aren’t we?”

[TieFighterPilot181st]

[b]New Republic Assault Frigate Stormhawl [b]


The Colonel had returned to his ship after inspecting the Republic and was preparing to leave the area to return to the 12th's main base at Folor when a distress call came in.

"Sir, urgent message from Captain Deveneaux. He says that the Skyrider has been boarded and captured. The Republic is moving to attack but Sov ships have already arrived with the possibility of more arriving soon."

"Set course for their last known position immediately and transmit our movements to Fleet Command." Tie ordered, feeling the adrenaline kicking in once more.

With a flicker of motion, the Stormhawk and its two accompanying gunships leapt into hyperspace.


(OOC, Teleran you might want to bring in maybe a couple more ships since right now there is the Republic, 3 Assault Frigates, and 2 gunships arrayed against you. But then thats assuming the Skyrider doesnt participate because if it does then its all good)

[Artimus Devaneaux]

"Imperial captain, this is Artimus Devaneaux, the new master of the Skyrider." Artimus smiled. He had intended to bring the Republic into the Sith fleet intact, but he supposed a Defender-class Star Destroyer would have to do. "Recognizing you as friendlies. You may attack at your discretion."

[Kieran Devaneaux]

"Captain, picking up Imperial ships. The Skyrider is at the front."

"Damn. Well, it looks like this conflict has been decided for us." Kieran straighted himself in his captain's chair. "Prepare to attack the Skyrider. Destroy her if you have to."

[Artimus Devaneaux]

"The Republic is approaching at attack formation," one of Artimus' hunters reported from the sensor station.

"As expected. Ready turbolaser turrets and prepare to fire." Artimus, after scanning the schematics for both this ship and the Republic, knew that the two variants of Star Destroyer would be almost equal in combat; it would depend on the strategies of their commanders and the power of their escorts....and Artimus was at a disadvantage. Kieran and his escorts were obviously very good, but Artimus would rely on his skill with trickery...

[Teleran Balades]

While the Skyrider and her escorts drew ever closer to the Sith/Sov battle group, Palpatine's Rage swung her massive bulk around in a half turn, bringing her starboard side to face the enemy. Along the entire length of the ship, Heavy Turbolaser emplacements swung their dual gapping muzzles to bear. The smaller, anit-starfighter gunships swooped into a low flanking position to protect their mothership from the knats.

Swarms of Tie Defenders boiled out of the Cuirassier's. Angrily, they streaked out to engage their opponents.

Gericualt looked on the viewscreen showing the approaching NR ships. This fight would be a slugfest. And that was exactly what his ship was designed to do: give and recieve tremendous broadside barrages.
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A pair faint distorted shimmers could be seen for a moment, flying parallel to the great Republic. But as soon as they had appeared, they disappeared again.

Aboard one of the stealth ships hidden beside the NR destroyer, a solitary figure stood among a team of eight Inquisitorial Commandoes. The person wore a pitch black robed lined by deep crimson stripes. The Inquisitor click the comm-link built into the wall near the access hatch.

"As soon as the Republic drops her shields to launch starfighters, I want us on the hull of that ship."

[Kieran Devaneaux]

Fighter support was the last thing on Kieran Devaneaux's mind. Besides, there were no fighters on the ship yet....though he did have several fighter squadrons coming from the shipyards at Sumitra. All Kieran was concerned about was the battle to reclaim his old ship. Father versus son, as it was meant to be. The Imperials and the Republic reinforcements...they were inconsequential to the two opposing commanders.

Hidden in the engine room of Kieran's ship, though, one of Artimus' White Hand assassins was preparing to sabotage the Republic's engines to leave the ship dead in the water....

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Jorshal shot dead a few of the officers on in the area of which they had taken the escape pods, the rest seemed to back down. The White Hand assassins broke away from their escape pods and rushed to follow Jorshal as he lead the way through the ship.

Left and right, armed Republic officers and soldiers and fell to the ground dead. The group of one Sith and five White Hand assassins seemingly could not be stopped. A large group of armed men had tried to to stop them, shouting warnings and threatening with death. What they didn't realize is that Jorshal and the assassins were not concerned with death. It wasn't a threat. That group found itselves collapsed on the ground, inflicted with lightsaber wounds amongst others.

Now they came to a junction. Ahead was the control room and to the left would lead them to the power sources of the ship. Jorshal wasn't a good leader and he knew he would have trouble when faced with choices like this.

"Ok, umm. Three, no, four go to the power rooms. Me and two assassins can handle the path to the deck." He said uneasily. Had he been looking at the assassin's eyes he would have noticed a quizzical look, but his attention faced forward as he planned on leading this mission to success. The group broke apart, both sides intent on doing what was necessary for victory.

[Teleran Balades]

"Frell, their not launching any fighter craft."

The Inquisitor slammed his fist into the durasteel wall. Even as washes of energy from Imperial fighters lit up space, nothing emerged from the Republic's hangar.

"Damned ship must not have picked up any."

With a snarl the shrouded figure punched the subspace comm system. A tight beam signal made a straight shot for the captured Defender SD.

"Mr. Devaneaux, this is Inquisitor Richter. Convince your boys to pick up the pace. I can't board the ship until her shields are out...and I do not have the time to wait for you or the Navy lacky on the Rage to batter them down.

Richter cut the comm just as the Imperial cruiser's first wall of emerald energy dishcharged from her weapons.

[Artimus Devaneaux]

"The ship will be ready for you in a moment, Inquisitor." Artimus smiled in amusement, thinking of what he'd like to do with this ill-tempered upstart who thought he had command here. But Artimus played along. "Patience."

As Artimus spoke, a well-timed blast from the Republic smashed through a weakspot in the Skyrider's shields and into the weapons controls. Artimus grabbed a railing before asking, "What the hell happened?!"

"Turbolaser blast, hit the main weapons control circuit!"

"What about shields and engines?"

"We still have shields, and engines at about 65%!"

"Signal the Rage, get the captain and his boys to focus on the Republic. Knock out their shields!"

[TieFighterPilot181st]

New Republic Assault Frigate Stormhawk


The stars focused again into their customary pinpricks of light as the Stormhawk and its two escorts reverted to realspace. Looking out the bridge viewports, Tie saw the Republic under assault from an Imperial Cruiser, two gunships, and several squadrons of fighters. Off to one side lay the Skyrider dead in space and evidently no longer in New Republic hands.

"Order the gunships to move ahead at flank speed to aid the Republic and have one squadron of fighters go with them. Launch the other one and have them cover us, we're heading right at that cruiser." Tie ordered his subordinates.


The two Warrior gunships accelerated a squadron of Xj-Wings heading along with them while the remaining squadron of E-
Wings deployed to screen the Stormhawk.

"At maximum range open fire with everything. I want to let 'em know we're here" Tie ordered the weapons officer.

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Jorshal began to run down the halls of the Skyrider, cutting down all of those who stood in his way, and even those who didn't. Time was passing by for him quickly now, it was like this everytime he fought; time would just slip away as he entered a trance. He looked back behind him and found the White Hand assassins a little farther behind now. They couldn't keep up withhis Force speed.

"Come on!" He growled and thrust one of his lightsabers into the chest of a soldier.

In seemingly short time he was at the bridge, but in reality too much time was passing by. Jorshal stepped into the hallway before the main room and encountered what was probably going to be the strongest condensation of Republic forces on the ship. Quickly he ducked back behind a wall to avoid the hailstorm of blaster fire, mainly from the rapid fire blaster cannon.

Silently he hoped that the other group would finsih off the power and engine rooms sometime soon to give him an edge. They were taking too long.

Jorshal gathered the White Hand assassins and formulated a plan. The assassins would follow behind him focusing on the guards. Jorshal would head and do his best to deflect the blaster cannon with two lightsabers. They did just that without any problems or uneasiness. The Republic soldiers fell all to easily it seemed.

The main door to the bridge opened and Jorshal shot dead the most senior looking officer he could find. "Alright, listen here. We're taking over this ship and you all are going to cooperate. Don't bother sending out any signals out as I'm sure you realized you comms are jammed." Or at least he hoped so. "Alright guys. Round these people up. I'm going to check on the other group."

[Kieran Devaneaux]

"Colonel Yamagi has arrived and is giving us fighter cover...they're trying to take out that cruiser."

"The cruiser is the least of my worries," Kieran snapped. "It's the Skyrider. If I know Artimus, he'll try to retreat now...but he'll be back."

[Jorshal Vuntana]

Jorshla ran through the already beaten up hallways with ease. He finally came to the intersection where the group had split before. and sped down it. The walls were covered with scorchmarks and there was the occasional body. All and all he expected the four assassins to be alive and as he rounded the next corner he found them.

They seemed different though, maybe smaller. Whatever the difference was it soon became apparent that they were someone else disguised and more importantly they had the bag he had brought aboard. He withdrew one of the lightsabers and charged amidst blaster fire. The first collapsed easily as the red blade was thrust into his belly. Simulatianeously he kicked the other in the jaw while the other tried to apprehend him he punched him in the ribs, possibly breaking them. He grabbed the other lightsaber and cut the one he had punched in half. The mock assassins fought good, but were not as skilled as the originals. How these soldiers go tthe drop on them bothered him as he cut the head off the last and retirved his bag.

The doors to the main power room were just ahead. Jorshal was prepared to find whatever the assassins had run into, perhaps more soldier or droids.

He entered the room and looked around, everything told him that no one was in there. He wondered what possible could have stopped the assassins from disabling the power. His vision became foggy for a second as he realized there was a scentless gas in the room. He reached for the bag he had retrieved from the assassins and threw it across the room. A few quick flips of some switches and buttons and Jorshal found himself on the floor, barely conscious from the gas. His last memory was that of a small ionization bomb detonating and rendering the whole power room and consequentally the ship, the shields, useless.

[Artimus Devaneaux]

"Sir, we just lost all internal power!"

Artimus felt it. Bombs in the power relay room. "Where's the auxiliary power? Bring it up now, divert it to the engines! Get us out of here!"

[Kieran Devaneaux]

"Captain, the Skyrider is disengaging."

"What?" Kieran looked out the viewport at the Defender-class ship. "Sensors, report!"

"Skyrider's running on auxiliary power. Ion explosion in the main power relay center. She's diverted all power to engines and is making a break for it."

"What of the Imperials?"

"They're still focused on us."

"Signal Colonel Yamagi, tell him to stay with us until we can disengage. Then set a course for Mon Calamari. Prepare to jump to lightspeed...we need to get this ship to the Admiral in one piece." Kieran smiled bitterly. "Time to test the hyperdrive."

[Artimus Devaneaux]

"Do we have power for the hyperdrives?"

"Yes, sir, we've managed to divert the power. What course shall we set?"

"Back to Corellia. We got what we came for...." Artimus didn't say that they had failed in their primary mission, but he supposed there would be another day. "Jump...." He glared at the Republic in the viewport. "Now."

A second or two later, the Skyrider was gone.

[TieFighterPilot181st]

"Sir, the Skyrider has just gone to hyperspace. Trajectory anaylysis puts her on course for Corellia."

Tie swore at having not been able to stop the captured ship before it returned to his former homeworld.

"Order all ships to engage the Sovereign forces."

Already, in the distance flickers of light appeared as the opposing starfighter squadrons began their deadly duels.

[Kieran Devaneaux]

"All hands, this is the captain. Prepare for hyperspace." Kieran glanced at his navigations officer. "Lieutenant, on my mark."

The man nodded. "Ready, Captain."

"Sir," the sensor officer spoke up, "Colonel Yamagi's task force is focusing on the Imperial ships. I think we have sufficient cover for an escape." The Jedi captain nodded in satisfaction and glanced at the nav officer. "Lieutenant, on my count." The nav officer nodded. "Three....two....one....mark."

The Republic's engines groaned, and then the ship screamed into lightspeed. Kieran sighed in relief. They had made it intact. "On course for Mon Calamari, Captain," the nav officer reported. Kieran nodded. "Good work, Lieutenant. Status report."

"Minor to moderate damage on the upper decks of the main hull. Emergency shields in place and holding. About one fifty-five dead, three hundred seventy wounded. Otherwise, we're in one piece."

"Good. Signal the fleet. Inform them the Republic is en route." Kieran sat back in his chair. "Steady as she goes."