What you're about to read here was originally posted on Discord about a year ago. As the subject indicates, this is meant to serve as an opening cinematic to an RP that I hope to be hosting at some point. It's being shared here because not only does it not have anything at all to do with our community, it doesn't even take place during the same era that SWTOR does! So, with that in mind, I present you with this!
"A new battlefront appears! The world of Lwaxana, located on the cusp of the mysterious Unknown Regions, has inexplicably become a point of contestation between the Republic and the Separatists! Led by General Kleeve, the Separatists were the first to make planetfall and entrench themselves deep within the large swaths of wilderness that make up most of the planet's surface! Using a series of mobile hypervelocity cannons, Kleeve has made it all-but-impossible for the Republic to deploy troops of their own! However, under the advisement of Jedi Master Cin Drallig, the Jedi Council has decided to send his former Padawan, Serra Keto, and the 442nd Siege Battalion to Lwaxana with orders to break through the Separatist's blockade and help clear the way for a Republic counterattack!"- - -
There sits in orbit above Lwaxana's largest landmass a small fleet of five ships comprised of one
Providence-class carrier/destroyer, one
Recusant-class light destroyer and three
Munificent-class star frigates. Until recently there had been almost thrice this number, spread out in a pattern that would allow the ships to react to any approaching threat. However, two-thirds had been called away to intercept a Republic battlegroup that was spotted attempting to take advantage of what they thought was a blind spot in the CIS' sensor net. At least that's what the Separatists have been made to believe.
[Cue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBPDBYS5w0g][00:01 to 00:42] With a deep, reverberating 'boom!' the
Victory-class Star Destroyer
Ardent drops out of hyperspace within visual range of the five Separatist vessels. The captain of the
Providence is not only surprised but understandably confused, for there had been no warning of an incoming enemy incursion. Stranger still, the vessel doesn't move. It simply proceeds to sit there, as though daring its opposition to act. Naturally, the order to scramble fighters against the interloper is given.
"What are they doing?" the human captain of the
Providence mutters. It's an excellent question, because the ship continues to demonstrate no activity whatsoever, even as the squadrons of Hyenas and Vultures close in on it. But that all changes when the droids actually begin opening fire on their designated target.
[00:42 to 00:58] The engines of the Republic vessel suddenly flare to life, propelling it forward, prompting the droid starfighters to peel away in order to avoid crashing into the shielded hull. The shock that the
Providence's captain feels then isn't just shared by his fellow Separatists, it's practically contagious. But it isn't until the lights from the incoming vessel's numerous viewports began to stand out like the stars in the space around it does anyone think to give the order for the little fleet to open fire.
Aboard the bridge of the
Ardent, Captain Jan Dodonna looks over at the Jedi standing next to him and practically shouts, as the enemy's barrage begins to splash against their shields, "I sure hope that you and your people know what you're doing!"
Keto's response to this is to simply throw back her head and laugh like a child in the midst of enjoying an amusement ride as, in the hangar below her, cables responsible for transferring power from the starfighters, shuttles and walkers that've been gathered there to the Star Destroyers' twin shield generators spark to life.
[00:58 to 01:30] Dodonna and the rest of the bridge crew all begin to scream at the top of their voices as they near the orbital blockade. But somehow, incredibly, they manage to squeeze through the small gap in-between two of the smaller ships. The guns of these ships, almost completely automated, attempt to track the
Ardent as it practically traded paint with them, but it's simply too quick for them to hone in on.
[01:30 to 02:15] Down on Lwaxana, several of the Separatist's so-called "weapons platforms" stir from their slumber and reorient themselves to face the
Ardent as it enters the atmosphere.
As the titanic droids send their first volley of hypervelocity rounds skyward, the
Ardent's ensigns quickly get to work using the ship's maneuvering thrusters to push it first to the left and then to the right, sending it out of the way of the blindingly-bright projectiles just in the nick of time. Up above, the captain of the
Providence barely has time to scream as one such projectile tears through his vessel from below, splitting it open like an egg.
This continues on for the better part of the minute; the
Ardent dodging shot after shot by little more than a whisker as it dips closer to the planet's surface. Finally, the order to even out is given, and the maneuvering thrusters kick in in earnest. With only perhaps a thousand feet's clearance between its underbelly and the treetops, the
Ardent surges forward toward its target -- one of the gargantuan droids that had been attempting to shoot it down.
[02:15 to 02:28] "Now!" Keto shouts into her comlink once there is only perhaps thirty kilometers left between her ship and the 'titan.' Immediately, all twenty launch tubes open, two at a time, starting from the front-most ones. Shortly thereafter, an equal amount of drop pods shoot out into the open air, only to drop like stones into the forest below.
[02:28 to 03:01] Those first out of their pods can do little more than watch, effectively helpless, as the
Ardent banks out of the titan's line of fire with only seconds to spare. Even with their visors polarizing against the glare, many of the Republic soldiers either have to shield their eyes or look away as the lance of emerald green energy skewers the sky and soars off into the distance. Now free to act with minimal risk of lethal reprisal, the
Ardent opens up on the titan's position with a broadside of turbolaser and ion cannon fire practically point blank as it soars past. Trees splinter and catch fire. Metal warps and melts. The front-right leg of the battery collapses under its own weight, sending the mechanical monstrosity listing at an awkward angle. But that isn't enough to bring it down. If the crew of the ship had thought it would've been, there wouldn't have been a need for the boots on the ground.
Just before the
Ardent vanishes from everybody's points of view, obscured by a forest of tall trees that stretches for dozens of miles in all directions, Keto's voice is broadcast to those who're part of the first wave. Her message is short, sweet, and cuts right to the point. It says: "Good luck down there, troopers. And may the Force be with you all. See you soon.
Ardent out."
