Tipool City Outskirts
Qotho Peninsula, Dandoran
Doran System
39 ABY

Arriving from well outside the city, it was more than obvious to Kamlin Xarel that everything was completely out of control. Thick billowing tendrils of smoke rose from around the metropolis. As she disembarked her shuttle, she recoiled at the first breath of outside air.

It reeked of death, burning metal, trash. It reeked far worse than she would normally expect from a Hutt-run city, which was saying something.

Her comm beeped. It was a simple alert: above her, the first of their new Troopers were now breaking into the atmosphere with Adlez there to control them. Kamlin smiled. It would not take long for peace to be restored here.

An already present lieutenant, one of Vairya’s loyal guard, saluted and gestured for her. Kamlin gave a curt nod and picked up her pace to follow.

“Ma’am. The city continues to spiral. Despite our best attempts, some of the...shall I say, aggressive Revenants are hellbent on making this a fight to the death. Mutilating corpses, taking trophies from their kills…” he trailed off as, in the distance, the sound of an explosion erupted.

“I did try to warn about that. We will never secure peace without securing a strong grip first,” Kamlin responded, spitting the words as she spat on the ground.

“That isn’t all of them though, ma’am. Quite a lot have either surrendered peacefully or have quickly withdrawn from the frontlines and deeper into the city.”

“Just to make it harder on us to force them out. They need to be stopped here and now, the lot of them.”

They had arrived at the makeshift command post. The guard saluted Kamlin again as she stepped into the tent.

“Pull the prisoners back beyond this line. We should have our first transports to take them off-planet arriving any minute,” Vairya was saying, pointing at a holomap of the area.

“You should be lining them up and shooting them. We need those ships for our own men,” Kamlin snapped. Vaiyra jumped.

“Kam! You made it, good,” Vaiyra said, ignoring the comment. “There is a lot of work to be done. More troops should be here any moment to help set the peace.”

“Oh, I am aware. Adlez and I were the ones who ordered them to deploy,” Kam responded. Vaiyra hesitated.

“Kam, what did yo—" Vaiyra was cut off at the sound of a ship landing. Kamlin smiled.

“Come and see the future, my friend. See what will usher in a new age of peace and order.”

Vaiyra followed several paces behind Kamlin, questioning what could possibly have put the other Triumvir in such a good mood. It didn’t take long for her to see; the first of the Restoration Troopers were disembarking. Her eyes fell on them.

Vaiyra heard screaming, and after a moment, realized it was her doing it.

Read the complete fiction here.

Summary

• Restoration Leader Kamlin Xarel arrives at Tipool City, as more Principate Forces prepare to land on the surface.
  
• She meets up with Harmonist Leader Vairya Muktiba at a makeshift command tent for the Principate. Following some tense interaction, the first of the support forces arrive.
  
• Under the command of Restorer Adlez Freewoman, the first of the new Restoration Troopers disembark and head into battle.
  
• These monstrous creations, a unity between force crystal and organic shock not only Vaiyra, but the Revenant forces they quickly engage with.
  
• Rasha Hawee warns a fellow Retributionist to conserve energy as there is still much work to be done. Their hard line slaughter of Principate soldiers is cut short by the Restoration Troopers, who toss Revenants around like ragdolls.
  
• As the Revanents begin to fall back deeper into the city, The Seer makes her grand entrance.
  
• She states all present are lucky to witness the birth of an Ascendant, as she finishes the ritual she started on Urikoth by shoving a crystal of her own straight into the heart of one of her followers.
  
• A rapid and horrific transformation takes place before the crystalline Ascendant leaps off in search of the crystals that had been collected by the other parties.
  
• Zyft Yadar urges fellow Revenants to hid, including Rasha Hawee, as they are pursued by the Restoration Troopers.
  
• She and Avitus Oligard, have a brief discussion before Avitus leaves, felling called to seek out the Seer.
  
• The Principate Leaders argue over the different approaches they have taken to deal with the Revenants. Outraged and insulted, Vaiyra finally snaps, firing a blaster at her fellow Triumvir.
  

Intel: Crystalline Monstrosities

Of course Chapter Two was going to raise the stakes in this faction battle. For the first time, we get to see some of the power these crystals hold, in the form of two new enemy types. I want to specifically thank and shout out to our lovely Herald, Alaisy who put together the lovely artwork for these two new monsters. Specifically below you will see how based on how the crystal was used, the same subject could end up either as a Restoration Trooper or as a Crystal Ascendant.

Here is information on the new enemies on the field of battle.

Restoration Trooper

Restoration Troopers have been developed in secret by some of the Severian Principate. These soldiers are heavily armed and armored, with nearly impenetrable crystalline hides. Any damage to their organic forms heals over rapidly with additional crystals. Incredibly strong and durable, they are also very slow and not very agile. They do not demonstrate any Force abilities, other than what can be seen in their amplified strength and healing rate.

Crystal Ascendant

Crystal Ascendants are at the other end of the spectrum. Birthed out of a horrific dark side ritual, these creatures are pure concentrated Force power. They lack physical strength or an ability to use any major weapons, however, they have a near-limitless ability to tap into the Force, and are able to move at an incredibly fast speed.