Session export: Whispers In The Dark

Since their mission to Kalsunor some things had changed for Wenet. The Kushiban had a Master now, the Cathar; Rin Kurai. Someone Wenet would look up to and not just because of her size. Her Master wasn’t a Force user, but a fierce warrior with plenty of experience and many useful skills. But to learn any of those skills, the small Kushiban had to train… a lot.

She happened to be training that very moment when Master Sol send out the alert. Wenet might be an eager student but she is also impatient so when she heard her comlink buzz she immediately stopped what she was doing. The message was vague, something about SeNet picking up TIE-fighters entering the Kiast System with the order to check it out. Wenet wasn’t sure how she could help but whatever they would ask her to do was probably more exciting that the repadative training routines she had planned for that day..

Quickly she grabbed her things and left the training room. After a quick stop at her room to get her gear, she made her way to the main hanger. Not having a ship of her own she hoped she could tag along with someone else.

The navicomp pinged as the Tie Scouts (TIE/SR) hurtled towards their next stop on the mission. As the tunnel collapsed into a star field approaching the planet Quermia Lieutenant Sivik Johl called out “Flight check in.” “Umbani 2 standing by.” Srg. Ksesh called. “Umbani 3 Check.” Corporal Hunkack “Umbani 4,,, wait I have,,, something isn’t right.” Cpl Karkum said as sparks flew from an overhead panel. The TIE scout drifted out of formation as systems went off line. “Tighten it up 4” Ksesh called. “We are approaching orbit at Quermia this place was under imperial rule we can set down here and squared you away.” “Looks like the Navicomputer gave up Sarge. I’m not sure what happ.” Karkum’s last words were lost in the explosion as his TIE reduced itself to atoms. “Well I guess he didn’t keep up on his maintenance on his 70 year old Teesr” Cpl Hunkack said. “Stow the Chatter 3. We’ll set down replenish supplies and keep searching for this energy signature as ordered.” “We’re gonna have to move quickly Titan Squadron just popped in system. We have to keep moving.” Srg Ksesh called out. The TIEs plunged into atmosphere headed for the largest city they could see. Just as they navigated the bumpy atmo entry the sensor pinged for the energy they were sent to find. Lt. Johl knew he would have to fight Titan Squad if they were to be successful in their search, no more out running them. Restocking stores would be a fast priority, it’s been days since the dry rations had run out. One can only make the last meal pouch last for so long.

Hidden from scans by the planet ODN Sunrider continues its run of the Overic Griplink trade route on a training mission for new bridge crew members and flight deck officers. Running launch missions for its various star fighter squadrons. “Captian, new contact. Seven X-wings at the edge of the system core ward of Makem-Te.” The new sensor operator practically yelled. “That’s not part of the drill.” the training officer said under his breath.

Waza worked on the motivators at the table with his R5 Unit Moto, Disassembling them cleaning and putting them back together. Sitting in the cargo bay of the Skullduggery listening to the echoes of times past and missions long finished. Just as he was elbow deep into lube solvent for the actuators, the comm chimed. “Moto answer the comm please.” Moto spoke in the droid language of beeps and whistles but after several years, the sentiment was coming through. “I know you’re just as busy as I am but you can toggle the comm internally and I have goo up to my elbows.” Moto blew a raspberry. “You wish you had elbows.” A projected call to order was beamed from the droid. “Well send a confirmation received and we’ll be there as soon as we are presentable, Thank you Moto.” Waza said wiping down the current metal puzzle and snapping it all back into place. “Ozlow can you get these back into place and prep us for flight?” Ozlow quietly moved from his power flow monitor and gathered up the motivators. Waza left the cargo hold while his droids continued to work on making the ship ready to fly. Making his way to his quarters Waza began to strip off his clothes ready for the sonic shower and a whole new mission. ‘please no more bugs.’ he thought as he keyed on the unit and felt the ship as a whole rumble with new life and break orbit headed to the Praxeum down on Kiast.

Ryan Hawkins scowled. Few usually showed up for his unarmed combat training sessions but this was an even worse day than usual. Wruushi was a hard art, of course. It was absolutely exhausting to wrestle and pit one’s strength and technique against each other. However, Ryan had worked hard to show that one did not have to have the build of a Wookie to excel in the art. He stood only around 1.75 meters, after all, and though he was broadly built, he was no wookie. Just strong, skilled, and determined. At least determined enough to wrestle and lift heavy things almost every day.

An alert went off on his datapad and he slowly lowered himself down from a back bridge where he was resting his head and feet on the floor then arching his back into a back bend. Strong necks made for strong wrestlers. He walked over and looked at the datapad. He sighed.

“I’m no pilot,” he thought to himself “but I guarantee they’ll want our ships up in the air to take a look.” Ryan knew the basics and had even flown in combat. Sticking to a sturdy Y-Wing gave him some margin of error, but he thankfully had strong nerves as lasers would impact his shields and armor and make him constantly feel like the next one would be the last.

Ryan moved to the hangar at a walk, hoping the situation would resolve itself before Odan-Urr had to fall back on one of its more mediocre pilots.

Wearing her Jedi armor and carrying all the weapons she could carry plus a small pack of essentials, Wenet dashed through the corridors. Fast, she zigzagged between people, “Coming through!” occasionally slipping through between anyone’s legs, making her way to the hanger.

“I’m here!” she yelled the moment she entered the room. Going so fast, she ended up sliding across the floor and eventually coming to a full stop against a crate. “Am I too late, did they’ she looked around to see if anyone saw her crash into the crate. "leave.. already..?” she finished her sentence slowly as she got up. Wenet was still panting, from excitement rather than the fact she had been running. She dusted off her clothes and hopped onto the crate she just crashed into and waited for anyone else to show up.

The Praxeum Headmasters Office

The office of the Headmaster was quite large, larger than Doku expected it to be. One side of the wall was lined with display cases and shelving adorned with artwork and records collected during Odan-Urrs inception. The other side had rows of data slates and pads with teaching plans, examples of curriculum, and reports from upper leadership. He had been in Plagueis during the creation of the clan before his self exile. The amount of knowledge they collected had been astonishing but felt natural, like he had always been a part of it.

On the desk were several terminal screens and stacks of data pads that needed to be reviewed as his first task as Headmaster. Keying in his access codes the terminals came to life with data and messages from the other teachers. It had been nice to be busy again, toiling over tomes in the Plagueis archives playing catch up had been draining since the start.

A couple of hours have passed as an urgent message came across the screen, putting down the data pad he had been working on. He opened the message and noticed it was from Gui Sol, Odan-Urrs Proconsul.

“It’s only been a couple of days and we already have something urgent huh, exciting. Guess its time to meet the rest of the clan.” Doku had said as collected his things from a storage locker he had installed when he arrived. The most important piece had been hidden but he couldn’t leave without it. He waved his hand over the desk as a slat on the desk disappeared revealing a keypad to a locked box. Keying in the code the top opened revealing two slender boxes, both in two separate colors, one silver in color and the other almost pitch black. He grabbed the silver box and opened it revealing a curved hilted lightsaber adorned with a blue gripped, a new lightsaber to recognize a fresh start. He ignited the blade, the bright yellow color reflected off the room as the blade felt as an extension of his arm.

Deactivating the lightsaber, he clipped it to his belt and closed the box as the hideaway slate closed on the desk. As he made his way to the door he only smiled and looked back, thinking of what he could and would accomplish. Closing the door behind him he made his way to the hangar bay as he saw what appeared to be a Kushiban making its way through the crowd.

Bexa hurried as she looked for where to go. She rushed passed people. “Sorry!” She exclaimed as she bumped into people. She looks around for the HeadMaster’s room for 10 minutes before finally finding it. “Am I in the right place?” She asks nervously.

The TIEs broke atmo and were hailed by the space port requesting flight data and reason for approached. Lt. Johl responded. “Control this is Umbani flight we are approaching for restock and refuel then we’ll be on our way again. No extended stay.” “Confirmed Umbani Flight follow beacons to docking bay 1138. Have a pleasant stay.” Control tower instructed them. Once on the ground the pilots made contract for fuel and paid a little extra for expedited service.

“We are Sith Eternal why are we paying for this we should just take it.” Cpl Hunkack said. Sgt Ksesh slapped the back of his head, “An entire planet against three pilots, how did you make it out of the academy?” Lt. Johl spoke with a Quermian who directed them to a store kiosk just outside the docking bay for supplies. After supplies and fuel the TIEs are airborne again. “Umbani 1, There is a Venator I-class Star Destroyer in far orbit. Looks like they are moving to intercept Titan Squad.” Sgt Ksesk called. “Flight let’s stay low and break orbit on far side of the planet, let’s put some distance between us and Titan.” The squad of TIEs rose to 30,000 feet and screamed into the upper atmosphere away from their pursuers. The sensor began pinging again showing the signature coming from the empty space just past Toola off the hyperspace lane. Then known space lanes were only going to help them so far. “Umbani Squad set coordinates for Toola, after that we will be off the trade route. Prepare for micro jumps. Flight Engage now.” The Stars swirled and stretched as Umbani Squad neared its fate.

Ryan entered the hangar and observed the overloaded Kushiban as they entered the Hangar. He adjusted his flight suit: old, orange, Rebel surplus and made sure his lightsabers were on his hip as he held his helmet in his off hand and waited to be given the order to take off. He was no ace pilot, and it is unlikely a lumbering Y-Wing would be needed to engage purely fighter aircraft. but nonetheless he had felt no small sense of guilt that he rarely joined the clan in space missions. A Jedi was expected to have some versatility, after all.

He was tempted to let the Kushiban know that cockpits could be very cramped which is why you should not bring everything along, but he felt it was not his place. Who knows anyway, the diminuitive size of the Kushiban could actually enable them to fit everything in the cockpit. Ryan’s mind wandered to thoughts of why the navies of the galaxy didn’t just make ALL pilots Kushiban and then you could save on space and make fighters even smaller and…

“What the hell is wrong with me?” Ryan thought to himself, shaking himself from his distraction, as he took a look at his Y-Wing. No evidence remained of the prior poundings it took on the armor. The large production run of the craft clearly blessed the acquisition of spare parts for repairs.

Ryan smiled and waved at the Kushiban to at least give a friendly face. He had not seen them at any of his Wruushi classes and wondered how a Kushiban would even feel about wrestling given the size advantage they would often give up. Then again, Ryan had outwrestled some Wookies in his time and Wruushi was about skill as much as it was about size and strength. Size and strength certainly helped though.

Waza entered the cockpit of the Skullduggery, his Ghtroc 720 Light Freighter as it touched down in the hanger. “Another great flight and landing Ozlow and Moto, Thank you.” Waza said as he dialed up Tex his droid caretaker of Scooby. “Tex we have another mission, not sure if I’ll be needing Scooby but get her ready to travel.” As Waza keyed off the comm he saw a pilot in Rebel Orange approaching Wenet. Happy his new friend was going along Waza sprang from the pilot seat and headed towards the ramp. As he passed his quarters he pulled his saber to him Gojira, ‘Time to let the beast roar.’ He thought as he walked down the ramp waving to Wenet. Just as he reached the bottom of the ramp Gui entered the hanger and shouted to mount up. “Hey Wenet you can ride with me if you don’t already have a ship, and anyone else going up is welcome on the Skullduggery.” Waza said in a booming voice over the din of the active hanger bay. Waza keyed his com for Gui. “I’ll gather people who don’t have a ship and meet you up there.”

ODN Sunrider banked around the planet. “Commander bring in the squadrons, prepare ship for jump to Mekem-te for interception.” The bridge sprang into action, trainees and trainers working together to coordinate for all squadrons to land quickly and secure ships. If the flight deck was a hurricane of activity before it became organized chaos as the call to bring them all home echoed from deck crews. Fuel crews, ordinance crews, and techs for each of the seven squads readied for action. As the flight clock counted down to jump fighter after fighter glided in and landed, nestling into lifts and designated places like a bird folding in its wings. Suddenly the boatswain’s whistle sounded, “Captain on Deck”. Captain Gerard approached the Deck master podium and keyed the deck intercom. “All pilots and crew. The drill is over for now, as you can see we are less than two minutes from jump. Job well done on the drill. Now Hawk-Bat Squadron I want you airborne as soon as we clear hyperspace. Everyone else stand by.” The captain saluted them all and returned to the bridge. The Capatain entered the bridge with second before the clock hit zero, “Captain all is ready for jump.” Commander Shozan reported. “Jump” With a single word the might of Clan Odan Urr blasted through hyperspace to face the intruders. Just as the ship transitions into hyperspace the Comms officer called out. “Captain message from Fleet command, do not engage, shadow and monitor their movements.”

Casually sitting on top of the crate, Wenet watched the others assemble. A man dressed in an old orange rebel flight-suit entered shortly after her. Although she did not know his name, she recognized him as the instructor of the Wruushi classes. On several occasions she had peeked into the training room, she was curious by nature, nosy some would say. When he waved at her she replied with a toothy smile, but before she could say anything Master Sol entered the hanger.

“wait.. what?” Wenet jumped off the crate onto the ground and looked around the hanger. For a brief moment she believed that she was allowed to pilot one of the fighters in the hangar. She knew how to fly a freighter, she had learned that when she joined her crew, but a fighter? That was something else but an exciting thought. However Waza burst her bubble, telling her she could ride with him. “oh.. yeah.. eh..” Her disappointment was obvious, but even she knew that if she were to pilot anything they had to make adjustments to the pilot seat because of her size. “yeah I’ll, join you” She continued and walked up the ramp of the skullduggery.

“Awesome glad to have you here with me.” Waza said. Looking around for any others who didn’t have a fighter or other ship. “Wenet you ever operate ships cannons before? I can have Ozlow set you up and give you a quick run-down on how it works.” Waza took a couple steps up the ramp so he could see over the flight deck for anyone responding to the call. Waza was excited it had been a while since he had any ship to ship adventures and with Wenet he knew things would be fun. Waza kept looking around hoping to see the Echani Adenn headed into the hanger bay. He definitely wouldn’t mind laying eyes on her again.

Rin stepped into the hangar bay and looked about, her helmet tucked under and arm as she took in the surroundings. Besides her, making the Cathar’s height seem even more diminutive, Adenn strode into view speaking softly to the smaller woman. The foolish would think the lightly garbed, statuesque woman paid not a whit of attention to anything but the smaller woman at her side.

Rin came to a halt and stared at the freighter with dismay. “What in the world…”

The Echani’s silver eyes came to rest on the vessel with a grin. “Oh good. Looks like the old man is here. Think we can hitch a ride?”

“Operate cannons?” the Kushiban smirked as she looked up at Waza. “matter of fact.. I do” she then wiggled her furry brows. She had learned a lot of useful skills during her time as a smuggler, she’d become a jack of all trades. “But I’d appreciate it to have Ozlow set me up… it’s been a while” she added as she didn’t want to mess things up when they were out there.

Before she got inside she heard a familiar voice. Her long furry ears twitched and she turned around to see both her Master and Adenn. She glanced at Waza, knowing he had an eye on the big woman. “Greetings Master.. and hello Adenn” Wenet eventually said and waved at the two women.

After witnessing the Kushiban hastily make its way thru the crowd he noticed it was making its way to the hangar bay. The message that appeared on the terminal mentioned something with the hangar so that seemed to be the best course of action. Taking a turn around a corner he nearly ran into a student, a Togruta with beige skin and brown eyes. He recognized the student as Bexa Nalrella, High Councillor Revak’s apprentice.

He looked down at Bexa and put his hand on her shoulder, “You must be in a hurry as everybody else is, let’s proceed to the hangar and see if we can’t get on a ship.” His voice bellowed softly giving off a warm welcome but with a sense of urgency. Bexa nodded as they both made their way through the crowd towards the hangar bay.

Entering the hangar bay he noticed several individuals loading into personal ships, Gui into his A-Wing and two individuals he had only recently read their dossiers on. The first was Ryan Hawkins, a human Jedi who specialized in unarmed combat. The particular style he taught was Wruushi, a martial art native to the Wookies. It fit his build well as he loaded into his Y-win. The second was Waza Sunrider, another human Jedi and wonder of the ship called the Skullduggery. The Ghtroc 720 Light Freighter had plenty of room for two more individuals which made the most logical choice.

Walking with Bexa they made their way towards the Skullduggery waving at the cockpit for some sort of attention to their presence.

Waza watched Wenet make her way across the hanger bay a little dejected at first but after the offer to run the cannons she perked up. At the base of the ramp her ears twitched as her master Rin and the Echani Warrior Adenn strode into the hanger full of confidence and hidden danger for any who crossed them. Waza perked up a bit at the sight of Adenn, ‘maybe I could find out more about the warrior and,,,’ Waza shook himself from his thoughts no time to wander off now. He waved them over, “Plenty of room, let’s go see what Master Gui has for us now.” Barely taking his eyes off Adenn as she moved like water through the crowd Waza saw two more enter the hanger and wave for attention. “Come one over, we’ll head space ward in just a minute. Make yourselves at home, kitchen is back and to the left and at the top of the ramp is a small lounge area. Wenet the cockpit is up the ladder if you’re not familiar with the lay out already.” Waza keyed his comm link, “Tex dont think I’ll be taking scooby up now but be ready things can change, OzLow can you make adjustments to the gunner station for our Kushiban companion to reach the controls. Thank you.” Waza keyed the comm and took one last look around, patted his ship on the support strut and thought, ‘Well we got her on the ship now to see where this goes.’ Waza Keyed the latch and headed to the cockpit.

Ryan Hawkins checked everything in the cockpit one by one. Routine, pre-flight checks he had done plenty of times in the Y-Wing. He paid special attention to the traverse of the ion turret. A nasty trick that enabled the lumbering old warhorse of the Y-Wing to deal with older generation TIEs and other nimble fighters and interceptors was to lure the fighter in, tank the shots on the armor and shields of the Y-Wing, and line up nasty ion shots that left them floating in space with no weapons or systems. It was a better strategy than getting into dogfights in an aging bomber from a more civilized age.

“This is Ryan Hawkins in Gold 3, powering on.” Ryan fired up the engines and waited for clearance from air and ground control for takeoff and let his mind wander to meditation. It’s likely he would fly alongside the other heavies rather than being forced to intercept at high speed and dogfight, which was just as well.

After heading into the cockpit, Bexa looked around at everyone. This is who she will be with for the next while. She had better remember their faces. She takes an moment to gather herself. “So what’s he got us doing this time? I heard there is an emergency. I came as quick as I could-“

A soft chuckle escaped her mouth when she saw Waza’s response to seeing the Echani Lady again. Shaking her head she then turned around and continued her way into the Ghtroc 720 Light Freighter. Wenet climbed up the ladder into the cockpit where she took off the pack and rifle she was carrying, placing them in an available storage compartment. A droid was already making the adjustments to the gunners station.

“You must be OzLow” she said as she watched it work. The droid replied with a series of beeps and whistles “I’m Wenet… and yes.. I’ve operated guns before” She answered with a look of pride. “but I could use a quick run through, just in case” she added. The droid replied with more beeps before it moved away from the seat motioning to her to try “looks good” Wenet replied and hopped onto the chair, trying to reach for all the control “perfect” she smiled.

Before the OzLow could show her the controls she heard someone climb up the ladder. “and? All onboard?” Wenet asked with a chuckle, thinking it was Waza. But then she heard a different voice, feminine. She looked over her shoulder and saw a young Togruta woman. *“you’re guess is as good as mine” she replied to the woman’s question. “I just know what Master Sol mentioned in the alert… something about SeNet picking up on a squadron of eyeball’s in the system.” she added, using a nickname for TIE-fighters she had picked up during her travels.

The comms crackled, next they heard a voice over the open channel, it was Hawkins reporting for take off. On that moment Waza entered the cockpit and took his seat at the helm. OzLow now whistled impatiently, insisting Wenet to pay attention. “oh… go ahead OzLow.” the Kushiban replied and listened to the droid’s instructions.

Rin stepped into the ship with Adenn on her heels. The two women veered off slightly and took up what seemed to be an intent of permanent residence in the lounge area.

The Cathar set her helmet on a low table and rested booted feet next to it. Leaning back in her chair, Rin placed her hands behind her head and closed her eyes with a sigh. “Finally, a chance to rest.”

The Echani grinned at the smaller woman and took a seat herself. “Come now, Aunt Rin. You know we always have plenty of time to rest. Didn’t you get to take a nap in a tree recently?”

The Cathar opened one eye and gave Adenn a look that would peel paint. “Don’t you have literally anyone else to bother?”

Adenn laughed softly and shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

The smaller woman growled softly and closed her eye again. “Here’s hoping that happens sooner than later. The little rabbit we’ve become fond of is up there waiting to shoot things.”

The Echani grinned and nodded. “The heart of a lion, that one. She’ll go far if that curiosity and intensity doesn’t get her in over her head.”

The smaller woman shrugged, a thought she herself had had more than once while watching the little Kushiban.

“Sounds serious— I wonder what all this is about? We’re headed into the unknown. It would be nice to be briefed about it. If I had to guess that’s why we were called here but what do I know.”

The droid elevator swooshed as the door opened and the astro mech Moto enters the bridge with an explosion of beeps, whistles, buzzes and other noises. Wenet, Bexa, and OzLow turn as the sounds fill the cockpit. Bexa steps to the side as Moto makes his way to the droid socket. OzLow continues beeping towards Wenet. Waza climbs up to the cockpit with the cacophony of noise echoes around. “Hey settle down, Moto I said Wenet could run the guns, you can focus on the systems and shields like you were complaining about months ago.” Waza stops at the guns station. “Come on OzLow speak basic things will go easier.” “Fine Master I was just having some fun. My apologies Master Wenet droid humor you know?” Waza turns to Wenet and the new comer, “My apologies sometimes they display personality quirks; they are like younglings showing off for new people. My name is Waza and welcome to my humble abode. You do not need to stay up here with us but you can if you would like.” Once OzLow gets Wenet situated and ready, he returns to the copilot seat checks the readings and announces the ship is ready. Waza drops into the pilot seat while Bexa returns to the lounge area with the others. “Control Skullduggery standing by for lift off. Gui we are ready.” Waza switched to internal speakers “lift off soon, everybody grab a seat. Once we’re up you should be good to move about till we intercept.” Clearance from the tower came soon, Echo-1 lifted and left the hanger like it was shot out of a cannon, next a y-wing with years of experience and a hidden toughness glided up and out the door like a heavy weight prize fighter used to being taken for granted then knocking out your teeth. Waza piloted the ship up and out the door. Once clear of the hanger the ship pushed up to full throttle and rocketed skyward to trial behind the speedy A-wing.

As the ships hit the upper atmosphere Waza flipped piloting duties to OzLow. “Wenet want to head below and catch up with everyone for a minute or two?” Waza slides down the ladder followed by Wenet, seeing everyone seated there he greets them. “Hello all welcome to my home, we’re chasing after Gui in his A-wing, When OzLow gets coordinates we’ll be jumping to hyperspace. You’re welcome to move about, I will tell you the cargo bay on the right is where I put my veractyl when I take her with me. We did not have time planet side to pick her up, but it is set up as a stable. Over to the left is the kitchen and entertainment area, vids, holo dramas and music and dining area.” Waza Walks over to the Human male who came in with Bexa, “Hi you must be one of the new Magistrates we just picked up?” Waza says reaching out his hand. Doku rises to shake hands. “Greetings, Unique ship you have here Waza, I’m Doku Rivendare.” “Thanks I work on it a lot.” Waza makes his way over to Rin and Adenn. “ Greeting ladies. Glad you came along

Wenet turned to OzLow and stared at him with raised brows “all this time you knew Basic?” she asked feeling slightly embarrassed that she hadn’t realized. The droid made a buzzing sound that resembled a chuckle, “Us droid’s can be funny” it replied. “Yeah, so it seems… I’m just glad I learned Binary or I would have looked like a fool.” Wenet replied with a smile. “I must say I am quite impressed with your understanding of our language” OzLow complimented Wenet and then continued to set her up. ~*~

“see you later OzLow” Wenet said as she hopped off her seat and followed Waza down the ladder to meet everyone who came along. Wenet stayed quiet as Waza greeted everyone and looked at everyone. It surprised her that Wedge didn’t come along but she assumed he probably had a different assignment. She was happy her Master as well as Adenn were there, however the way Waza kept acting around the Echani was awkward. Wenet rolled her eyes as he greeted the Ladies, something that Rin noticed, causing her to snicker.

“So… does anyone know why we are here?” Wenet then blurted out, interrupting any interaction between the old man and the Echani.

ODN Sunrider “Captain, the Pride of Owyhyee and the Angry Ewok signaling ready to take up support stations at Makem-Te.” “Thank you Lieutenant, signal the rest of the fleet to hold but prepare for jump in to support.” With a flash of light, three ships of the JTF Sunrider snap into real space two light years from Makem-te. Hawk-Bat Squadron bursts from the launch by like someone kicked a hornets nest. Forming up by wing mates the A-wings form a defensive perimeter around their home waiting for commands. “All ships hold station and monitor. Sensors if those X-wings move I want updates. Comms, open a data link to P: Con Master Sol and feed him updates.” Captain Gerard Walked the command deck watching his crew work, checking on data and positioning of their prey. “I want any transmissions intercepted and decrypted as soon as they say anything.” Gerard said, he didn’t like letting intruders in his sector, but he would follow orders.

“Captain, the x-wings have set s-foils in attack position and are moving.” “Sensors, where are Master Sol and his followers? Battle stations, all ships; yellow alert.”

Watching Waza spirit away after his short introduction made him laugh, you could see his thoughts were elsewhere but focused for a time being. As the others mingled about he decided to walk around the ship for a quiet place to meditate. In his speedy explanation Doku over heard of a common area so he decided to head in that direction. He knew not of the emergency as well but to be dwelling on chaos will invite chaos when focus is needed.

Putting his hands in his cloak pockets he entered the common area as others were talking amongst themselves in the hall. The common area was setup as you would expect it. A large area on the west facing wall that had shelves for storage and containers of food. A holo vid was mounted on the back wall while there was an area of the common room setup for Pazaak.

He moved to one of the side bench areas and took a seat, unhooking his saber from his belt and placing it on the table. Once seated he closed his eyes and began to meditate for focus as even being left in the dark, you could feel the heaviness in the air as something was preparing for the worst.

Skullduggery Waza’s mind was racing as he greeted Doku, what would he say to Adenn? Could he come up with something and not sound like every other guy, or a complete nerf herder. Waza turns, the “perfect” words on the tip of his tongue, nearly there. Wenet, bless her heart.

“So… does anyone know why we are here?” Wenet then blurted out, interrupting any interaction between the old man and the Echani.

Waza turns, as the moment is gone. “I heard something about some ships entering the sector, two different groups possibly.” Bexa said “We’re going after one of the groups.” Doku walks away headed back to the kitchen area, Waza glances in his direction and sees him shaking his head. ‘Yeah I guess everyone saw that.’ Waza thinks, ‘I’ll have to move faster while Wenet is around.’ Waza tunes back in to the conversations.

Looking around the room, Wenet waited to hear what the others knew about their mission objective. In her excitement she hadn’t exactly paid attention to the details given in the alert from Master Sol. But of course, she wasn’t going to admit that she forgot to read the entire message.

To her surprise, before anyone answered, the man that had introduced himself as Doku left the conversation. hmm ok Wenet thought and watched him walk away. “Two groups?!” Wenet replied and then quickly corrected herself “I mean… of course I knew that” she let out a nervous chuckle before continuing. “So we have Eyeballs and..” she was fishing for the answer without having to ask “X-wings” Bexa answered.. “a model often associated with the Republic and the Jedi..” Adenn added “But they aren’t ours.”

“Aren’t we forgetting something” Rin suddenly asked and looked at Wenet to see it she knew “How did the TIEs get here?” Wenet’s eyes widened “They have no Hyperdrive!” she replied with excitement and worry at the same time.

“You are correct young one, how did those TIEs ever make it this far unattended? You would think we would’ve seen something by now.” he replied appearing next to Wenet.

Wenet screeched as she was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of somebody to her side. “My apologies for my earlier walk off, I like to bring myself to a center of calm before a mission. I didnt have much time for that earlier so I figured a good time was then”. Doku said as he reached into his cloak pocket and produced a bagged snack, which he then proceeded to eat.

“I also heard common room earlier which meant some sort of snack. You see I am also very hungry and figured since you make this your home you might as well have had some type of food. Waza I hope you dont mind that I helped myself”. He said continuing to eat the bagged snack.

He turned to look at Waza placing the half-eaten bag back into his cloak’s pocket, “Have you managed to find anything out of the ordinary or have we received any reports stating otherwise?”

Liz, who had been sleeping almost through the entire commotion rubbed her temples before sitting up in her bunk. She turned and placed both feet on the floor, rummaged around underneath the bunk to find both of her boots, synched them tightly around her calves then stood up into a big stretch. Rubbing her eyes, she poured herself a steaming mug of coffee before making her way out to the others.

Liz saw the group conversing but chose not to engage. She made her way to a stool, plopped down onto it, kicker her feet up onto a nearby table and began taking long sips of her coffee.

Once down to the fine grains at the bottom, she placed the mug down onto the table, reclined back even further and then at least addressed the group, “so, what have you all been up to?”

Bexa smells coffee. “Is that an fresh cup?” She had no clue how she could sleep at a time like this. “You took you’re sweet time waking up I see.” Bexa notices Liz had started talking. She wasn’t paying much attention. Intently focusing on the issue at hand. “I’ve been chatting about the current situation. Trying to remember any information I can that may help.” Of course she didn’t know much of anything.

Wenet turned her head towards Liz who seemed to have been on the Skullduggery before any of them got onboard. She watched the woman strut across the room and nonchalantly plonk down on a chair where she casually sipped from her cup of caff.

“What we’ve been up to?” Wenet asked and wondered if Waza even knew that Liz had been crashing on his freighter and it Liz even was aware why they were all there. Furrowing her brow she looked at the woman and replied “We were just discussing how a group of TIE-fighters made it to this system without hyperdrives. They must have had a ride.”

“Yeah its all good I said you can make yourselves comfy and said help yourselves, if we are going to be on a long trip I’ll throw together a meal for everyone. Glad you woke up Liz; I’m still not used to your sleep schedule. I guess I should explain that one huh? Liz asked after the Kalsunor mission if she could crash for a while. So we’ve been hanging out for about a week.”

“There is a Krugian caff maker in the kitchen you make it as strong as you like. We can move this to the kitchen if everyone wants caff.”

Waza leads the group back to the kitchen and keys the dining room code into the keypad and three tables and seating rises from the floor., “Let me wipe those down while everyone makes their caff.”

After a few minutes everyone is milling around or seated at a table.

“Just thinking about this historically; a Gozanti cruiser could carry up to four TIE/Ln. That would be easier to hide some how than a Destroyer or larger corvette. We could start scanning for unusual ion or some kind of energy signature that don’t mesh with background radiation.”

Waza thought for a minute,”Ive never heard of an active cloaking device. If this ship has one we need to claim it for the Clan. So looks like this might be a dual mission. Thoughts anyone?”

“OzLow can you open a comm channel to Master Gui and Ryan’s y-wing we need them in on this conversation. patch it into the ships internal.”

“This is Gold 3” Hawkins replied as he was patched in. He checked his load out, plenty of bombs and rockets for anything heavy and he expected his cannons and the ion turret to be sufficient for any TIE craft if he got drawn into a dogfight.

“Heya Gold 3 we were just discussing aspect of the mission at hand and trying to put together how some TIEs could get this far out without a ship of some kind. You have any insight being a fighter pilot?” Waza asked.

Just then OzLow Spoke up with “We are clearing the Nebula we will be able to scan for unusual radiation signatures in 30 second.”

Waza walks across the room to a pantry and removes some Namana berries and some doughtnuts arranges them on a serving plate and sets them on the table “We have a few minutes might as well snack” Waza says. Waza moves to the table Adenn is sitting at and slides in next to her. Rin on the other side of the table snickers and rolls her eyes. “Old man.” she says under her breath.

Wenet hops onto the bench next to her master and glares at Waza.

Liz refills her cup of caf, sensing a chance to instill a little chaos Liz chimes in “Oh so its just been hanging out a few days huh?”

Waza stammers and caught off guard has no response.

Bexa chimes in saving Waza without meaning to, “We need to focus on a possible stealth capitol ship or some new technology. Waza is there any thing we can do to help? Sensor stations or monitors?” “There is really only one sensor station and Moto has that covered for now.” Waza replied.

After a few seconds of silence Waza breaks it with. “So did anyone catch the grav ball game yesterday?”

“Trust me, there are much better pilots in this outfit than me, truly worthy of the term ‘fighter pilot. I put bombs on target mostly in these things” Ryan replied.

He continued, “Old style TIE/ln’s needed a craft to launch. Imperial doctrine emphasized capital ships and a lack of small unit independence and individual initiative for most TIE pilots. There was a lot of political pushback on the Defender project for example because of this. However, who knows if someone could retrofit an old TIE/ln or even send out a newer model TIE. I admit I’m ignorant on First Order capabilities and designs or various warlords or our friends in the remainder of the Brotherhood who hate our guts. If there is a capital ship or a frigate, I’ve got rockets and bombs loaded and cannons for my main armament.”

Wenet looked at the plate of doughnuts and berries and then at Waza. No one had touched the food yet. She glanced at the others sitting around the table and then back at the plate, Why isn’t anyone eating? she thought to herself and again glanced at those present before her big round eyes fell on the plate of food once more. Am I allowed to take any? she wasn’t sure Are we waiting for something? she kept glimpsing between the plate of food and those present.

While Waza was talking to Ryan Hawkins over the comms and the others were listening, the Kushiban extended her tiny arm. She slowly grabbed a handful of berries and then pulled her arm back. No one seemed to notice, she began to eat. hmm these are good she thought when she was done and once more extended her arm to grab another handful.

“cloaking device ey?” she responded with a mouth full of berries. Her lips and the soft fur around her mouth become orange from the nectar of the berries. “something big must have left some trace..” she continued while munching on the berries. “and… does cloaking work when you jump in and out of hyperspace?” She was genuinely curious, but assuming you couldn’t, she was convinced that if they dropped out of hyperspace without cloaking, that it must have left some kind of signature. but then again, she had a wild imagination and didn’t really know anything about cloaking devices

Bexa seems uninterested at the mention of gravball. “I don’t understand what you find interesting about sports? Care to enlighten me. I don’t particularly care about the game so no I didn’t watch it.” She glances over and sees Waza staring at the food. “I am an bit hungry but it’d be rude to take food unless offered.”

Titan Squadron “Captain Meridia tracking a Star Destroyer and two support craft just arrived from hyperspace”

“I’m picking up Ubani’s siganl again heading for that nebula on the far side of the sector, R8 plot a jump. Distribute the coordinates. Titan squad jump now.”

Jedi healer Elyon de Neverse was on Naboo at the time of the events in the Nilfgaard system. But she also received an alert and she knew that something was wrong. She immediately packed up and left Naboo.

The Sheathipede-class transport shuttle that was typical of her was now flying hyperspace on autopilot and she was reading the data.

TIE fighters of this type are similar to the fighters they used during the Clone Wars. Maybe these TIEs were modified for hyper rings. It wouldn’t take much work or effort, but why would anyone do that? The young Jedi thought before arriving at the rendezvous point. Her shuttle jumped out of hyperspace near the UDN Sunrider.

“Blue Spark reporting for duty.“ Her voice came over the ship’s communicator.

Unknown Space Xyston Class Star Destroyer

The bridge was abrupt with activity as the crew was preparing the destroyer for its next micro jump. The planet Toola was its next destination as the Grand Marshal’s patience was being tested.

“Lieutenant Johl, where is my status report?” the Grand Marshall growled as his image appeared on the hologram projector.

“The additional TIE squadrons we dispatched will meet the Umbani Squadron in a matter of moments my lord. Once their pursuers are taken care of we will make the micro jump. We have also dispatched some of our escorts as well to ensure that their pursuers are fully dealt with.”

“Leave the TIEs to their own devices and recall the support craft. We will need them in the times to come. Ensure that they are ready to jump as soon as we are. I want no mistakes Lieutenant or this will be the last time we have this conversation.” the hologram flickered off as the sense of dread Johl felt during the conversation started to dwindle.

“Signal the support craft to return and prepare for the micro jump as well. Once we have confirmation that the pursuers have been dealt with we will make our way to Toola. Make no mistakes and all hands on deck!” The lieutenant shouted as the communications officers began to perform their task. The lieutenant paced the bridge as the sound of frantic activity continued.

Titan Squadron Nebula

The sound of hyperspace jumps boomed as Titan Squadron came to the nebula’s quadrants. Attack foils at the ready the X-wings began to make their approach to the squadron of TIE’s that were traveling in the same direction.

“Remember we need to try and take them alive, who knows what their purpose being out here is for but only attack if provoked.” Captain Meridias voice rang over the com units.

As the X-wings closed in the sudden appearance of a second and third squadron of TIE’s emerged from out of the nebula as if waiting for the right opportune moment.

Comms erupted as the x-wing squadron began to engage the best it could. “This is Captain Meridia, we have been engaged by two additional squadrons of TIE’s and need immediate assistance! I repeat, if anyone is listening to this distress call, we need immediate assistance!”

** ODN Sundrider** “Captain the x-wings are changing formation and closing s-foils, they appear to be vectoring for a hyperspace jump.” “Plot trajectories and bring our flight home, turn us around to follow.” “Captain they are headed straight for the nebula.” “New ship coming in, Captain it’s one of ours.” “Blue Spark reporting for duty.“ Vanguard Elyon de Neverse called as soon as she returned to normal space. “Greetings Jedi” the comm officer responded, “Our target just jumped towards the nebula; Master Sol and others are responding from there.” “Captain; all stations report ready to jump.” The first officer reported. “Helm take us to 20 light minutes from the nebula. Stand by for combat maintain yellow alert. Jump.” Captain Gerard commanded.

Skulduggery Ozlow pinged the intercom for attention; “Master sensors indicate 3 unknown ties on approach vector” “That’s our cue. Everyone grab one last snack we have work to do. Wenet you still want guns?” Waza asked as he picked up the serving dish, offering it around for last grabs before securing the dish so to not make it an extra projectile when the flying got rough. Wenet grabbed two more handfuls and made a break for the ladder. “I imagine Sol and Gold 3 can handle a couple of TIEs but we are a big target so you all might want to find somewhere to settle in.” Waza said before heading up to the cockpit.”

Wenet had settled in and Waza was just sitting down when Moto began a steady stream, which translated to heads up display at guns and the pilot seat. “Uhm Waza we have a massive radiation and energy spike just inside the nebula. If I didn’t know any better I’d say it looks like a capitol ship coming on line.” Wenet said as the same information scrolled by coming from Moto. Waza keyed the comms to open channel. “Gui you reading this we have a ship lurking in the nebula, looks like it has been powered down. Coming on line now.” Gui acknowledged the new information and continued towards the TIEs. Fully coming on line and emerging from the cloud was a Quasar Carrier. As it appeared Titan Squadron dropped right between Gui and the carrier. Ships scrambled in every direction avoiding collision. Titan Squad brought their cannons and shields on line, Gui and Ryan pulled a steady loop followed by Waza to put some distance between the carrier and themselves. The TIEs already in flight begin to exchange volleys with the x-wings. More TIEs spew from the carrier, dozens of TIEs, out numbering the squadron. “Master Sol who do we shoot?” Wenet asked giddily. Just then over a common spacers channel, “All fighters stand down and surrender, this is High commander Shajoon with the Sith Eternal fleet we claim this sector of space as our own. Prepare to be boarded.” “To Hell with that, bust some TIEs Wenet.” Waza said. Gui responded to Wenet, “Lets separate from the x-wings and deal with them in a minute, Open up on the TIEs and the carrier. Time to call in some big guns.” Gui opened and Command channel to address the sector defense forces. “All available forces we have an incursion, destroy the Carrier ship, capture any escape pods launched. My coordinates jump in now.”

ODN Sunrider “Red alert jump in now Launch all fighters on reversion.” Captain Gerard commanded. The flight deck exploded with activity, Last second checks, droids scrambling, Pilots closing canopies. Flight computers registering hostile ship and marking targets. The ship rumbled like an angry lion pouncing its prey, and a micro jump later unleashed a fury of turbo laser fire and star fighters, Nightingale, Sigma, and Kraken flight were the first to clear the hanger. Flight leads and comm officers on the Sunriders bridge crew coordinated attack patterns and sorties. The B-wings focused in on the carrier raking it with torpedoes, ion fire and heavy lasers; pummeling the shields weapons emplacements. Nightingale and Sigma squads began the run on the flights of tie fighters. Wing mates calling out firing solutions and chatter over the coms. Skullduggery “Oh it’s on now.” Waza said as he dove into the fray. Corkscrewing a path between the engaged ships. “Open up Wenet don’t be shy.” Waza laughed as the Kushiban worked the firing console; the dual laser cannons kicked and fired leaving a thumping echo as Wenet blasted TIE fighters. Moto kept the shields charged and angled for the most protection possible. Whistling and beeping almost as if he was singing a death melody. “Yeah that’s right my little murder droid she is an ace at working the cannon.”

Space Space lights up with laser fire and hyperspace flickering as the ODN Resurgent and Peacekeeper jumped in blocking any maneuvering room the TIE carrier had. ODN Resurgent launched its own B-wing flight and opened up with turbolaser batteries. While the Carrier launched more TIEs it tried to utilize the small room it had left to rotate to effect better shield coverage but the b-wing flights pounded the ship relentlessly soon its shields were blown and ion blasts were shutting down the systems. The last maneuver while its engines were active was the roll, as compartments blew out and armor plating boiled off the ship a massive spinning cloud of debris would be its grave marker.

“Got it, I’ll make the jump and join their party. Blue spark over.” The young Jedi answered and shut down the comm channel as she received the rendezvous coordinates from Master Sol. She immediately entered the coordinates into the computer and made the jump.

“R2-E2, you have the weapons. I’ll maneuver and you shoot down as many of those TIE fighters as you can. It’ll be like old times.” Elyon told her astromech even though it was meant more for her. She fought in many battles in space despite being a healer. She enjoyed piloting and was therefore confident in her skills. She moved the stick forward and the ship jumped into hyperspace. The trip only took a few minutes and her shuttle was in the collision zone.

“Shields to max, R2, we can do it…let’s go.” Elyon encouraged the droid and began to devote herself fully to piloting.

Eyes wide, mouth stuffed with berries, Wenet sat in the gunner’s seat. Munching on she kept firing at the TIEs. The orange nectar stained her light fur, but she did not care, Wenet felt alive. But despite that feeling, she was also worried, especially after that Quasar Carrier had emerged from the nebula. “Kark! That thing is massive” Wenet shouted over the noise of the alarms in the cockpit as they turned to avoid cannon fire.

After she blasted another TIE into smithereens, Moto whistled in unison with her shout of joy, “Whoooohoooo!” The entire cockpit then lit up from a sudden wave of light, “I didn’t do that” confused the Kushiban looked up at the overhead screen. “it’s gone.. that big ship..” she reported to Waza but he already knew as he was doing evasive maneuvers to avoid being hit by the debris.

“its gone.. but those TIEs are still out there!” Waza replied, “Keep firing before any of them get away” “Yes Sir!” Wenet replied and brought her focus to the targeting computer. “but how can they get away? Thought they didn’t have a hyperdrive..” “true.. but we never even picked up on that Carrier and that’s worrying, who knows what is still hiding in the Nebula!” Wenet continued to focus on the guns but she couldn’t help but wondering; Eternal Sith? Who are these people…. what if they called for backup?

Bexa asks Revak “Who or what is thuron?” She hadn’t recognized the name. It sounded important. Possibly connected to the current situation. ( <@423221807818997807> )

Ryan put all shields to the rear as he found himself pursued by a TIE, he felt the ship shake as blasts from the TIE made contact with his Y-Wing’s durable shields as he swung his Ion turret around via cockpit controls and opened fire. The TIE clearly was not used to this trick as Ion blasts caught its wings and it slowly went dead in space, carried forward by its momentum but no longer flying or shooting under its own power.

Bexa seeing that she isn’t going to get an answer. She may have imagined up Revak being on the ship. It’s hard to tell with everything going on. She goes to cabin to see what people are doing there. “I can’t keep up with all this action and shooting. How are you holding up?”

ODN Sunrider “Flight master start bringing our birds in, get the b-wings in first have the x-wings clean up the last TIEs. I expect after action reports by 1700 hours. I’ll be in my ready room” Captain Gerard left the bridge a swirl of activity but slowly returning to normal ships function. Skullduggery Wenet kept the cannon thumping a steady rhythm of fire. “I’m running out of targets!!! The fighters are stealing them from me!!! I need more berries and targets.” “Moto I think between you two I’m going to have to install another cannon. You all are having a lot of fun doing this.” Waza said laughing. Wenet looked over her shoulder at Waza with a wild look in her eyes, the exhilaration of the fight, the intent to destroy and kill the enemy. The Juice coloring the fur around her mouth and on her paws like the blood of her defeated enemies. Waza did not see the adorable Kushiban in that moment; he saw the inner being that pushed her to feats her small frame belied. He saw a warrior and formidable force of nature. Rin was going to have her hands full teaching her when Wenet gained the self-confidence to strut and not just walk. As the deck, stopped pitching and rolling from the dodging and fancy flying the passengers began to move around the cabin exploring the areas of the ship they had not had time before. Doku headed back to the kitchen area with Bexa to find something to eat besides snacks. Rin and Adenn begin the exploration with Liz headed to the bunkroom where her belongings were kept.

“Adenn I think he was thinking of you at some point as there is a fancy room down the hall which no man could have decorated, it’s too stylish and has an oversized bed. It has to be at least two and a half meters long. It is right next to his. There is no missing the contrast.” The women laughed at that. “But with that flying, I wonder what else he can do with his hands. Going to have to find a way to tease him about that.” Adenn said. The intercom pings and Waza comes on updating everyone. “Gui wants us to rendezvous on The Sunrider, he want to meet the x-wing pilots but not ready to take them into the system yet. As soon as the flight paths clear of fighters we will headed into the hanger.” As the words clear the air Wenet is down the ladder headed to the kitchen for more berries.

Space TIE Fighter Carrier Suddenly the ship flares to life and klaxons are going off. Announcements scream over the speakers. Officers barking orders opposite what the announcements are. Confusion reigns. Pilots run towards locker rooms; ‘this is not a drill this is not a drill.’
Quickly flight suits are donned, helmets tucked under the right arm. The flight leaves towards the hanger as they have drilled for years since the academy. Lieutenant Toho has never seen the entire ship scramble at once, something big is happening. Suddenly the ship shakes as an explosion happens somewhere in the distance. The Shimorrah is taking fire. ‘Go GO go’ the officers scream. Everyone steps up from the trot to a near sprint. ‘Who is shooting? This is supposed to be a shake down cruise of the new star whisper drive. This is an uninhabited part of this sector.’ The professionalism trained repeatedly was breaking down in the face of the unknown. Helmets locked into place comm chatter was all over the place. Star Destroyers with B-Wings? Cockpits locked into place and the grav lift fires the TIEs out the launch tube at velocity. Lasers everywhere. X-wings, A-Wings as the LT clears the hanger bay two of his wingmen are vaporized. Toho sees his first target a lone y wing lumbering and slow. By the looks of it he felt smug in the fact he would get his first kill. His squad mates teased him because his tie was “naked”. A target rich environment is what this was. Toho was sure he would have ace in this engagement alone. Flying on muscle memory, he checked his gauges and readouts. Firing shots, he worked the shields bleeding them down just like in training simulators. Bracket left, nudge right, bleed and bleed. Suddenly a blazing blue light racked his ship; everything was gone. Sparks and electricity lanced from the consoles. His life support harness sparked and he knew he had less than 5 minutes before he ran out of air if he could not restart it.

No control, no engines, no life support. Even the ejector seat was dead. With a brilliant flash the area of space erupted with the explosion of the Shimorrah. Toho was trapped; he awaited his death by laser shot or suffocation. No rescue would be coming today. His ship just continued into the unknown away from the battle.

“I’ve got a TIE dead in the water!” Hawkins shouted, “Someone pick that guy up so we can have a chat!” Hawkins swerved around and lumbered to and fro, looking for heavier targets for bombs and cannons and also a friendly wingman to watch his back.

Fighting in ships allowed one to keep mental distance from the fray, one could after all think about “destroying ships” which created a buffer that killing the enemy in ground combat rendered impossible. However, Ryan Hawkins was too self aware for his own good. He winced at the thought of killing someone by suffocation in the dead of space, even if it was kill or be killed in this sort of combat.

Wenet slid down the ladder and made her way to the kitchen. “what happened to you?” Bexa asked when she saw the wild looking Kushiban. Bewildered, Wenet looked at her and Doku who were both there. Doku pointed at his mouth, circling it with the tip of his finger. Glancing at her reflection in the door of what seemed to be an oven, she noticed the lower half of her face was stained from the berries. “kark!” she exclaimed with awkward grin on her face “guess I should freshen up” she chuckled and shuffled backwards towards the exit of the kitchen “if you’d excuse me” Bexa and Doku looked at each other and smiled about the funny looking bunny.

As Wenet walked down the narrow corridor toward the refresher she noticed one of the doors was open. She saw Adenn and Rin inside, they were chatting amiably. The Kushiban quickly stepped into the refresher before her Master would see her. She washed her face and sticky hands, and then she noticed that some nectar had dripped on her new armour. “oh no.. Wenet!” she responded to herself with disappointment.. The breastplate of her armour was easy to wipe off but some nectar got on the fabric part and that wasn’t so easy to clean. “hmm maybe they will not notice” she said, hoping the dark colour of her clothes would make it less noticeable.

When she finally stepped out of the refresher she could hear Adenn and Rin laughing as they stepped out of the room. “well.. can’t deny the man has taste… not my taste, but taste nonetheless” Rin chuckled as they closed the door. “really, I thought you like that sort of thing” Adenn replied, “I do..I like it.. but it’s a bit too much for my taste. But it’s not for me isn’t it” The Cathar nudged Adenn and laughed as they walked back towards the kitchen. “What’s so funny?” the always curious Kushiban asked them. “Seems the old man prepared a room for Adenn” was all Rin replied as they passed. “a room?” Wenet tilted her head and furrowed her brow. .

When the two women disappeared into the kitchen, Wenet of course went to the room they had just come from. She wanted to see what was so funny. When the door opened she hopped inside and her eyes widened in awe “wow” but then the realization came. Her fur that had been slightly dull from the embarrassment earlier now significantly became darker and her ears flattened. Caught by a sudden wave of jealousy, She left the room and stood in front of the door for a while, long enough for Liz to notice her. “What’s with the pout?” Liz asked the obviously upset Kushiban. Startled, Wenet looked up “oh… eh.. I just noticed I messed up my new armour” she replied, pointing at the almost invisible stain on her collar. Liz looked at it and raised an eyebrow “Ah.. don’t worry about it. I hadn’t even noticed” she said and smiled “you can always say it’s the blood of your enemies” she added before stepping back to the bunkroom.

“Wenet! Are you coming?” Waza suddenly called out as he climbed up the ladder. “Hawkins just called in a TIE dead in the water” he said and disappeared into the cockpit. “I’m coming” she replied less excited than usual and made her way up. Waza was already sitting behind the helm and locked on to the coordinates he received from Hawkins.

The sounds of blaster fire erupted from the Skullduggery as the ship made its way to the disabled TIE fighter. The shifts in movement made it difficult to stay seated but he managed all the same. Once the ship leveled itself out, Doku made his way to the cockpit to sit and listen to the comms. Climbing up the ladder into the cockpit the sounds of switches and perimeter alarms beeped and flashed as Waza guided the ship to the disabled TIE.

Taking a seat in one of the operation station chairs you could feel the excitement in the room radiating from Waza. The thrill of space combat keeps you on your feet for sure, you could really see that with all the activity going on in the cockpit. Doku crossed his arms and sat back as if to take in the moment.

“Have we heard from Master Sol at all? I would assume he’s busy helping Titan squadron clean the rest of them up but have heard no current updates. We should secure the disabled craft and get it back to the surface as soon as we can while they are distracted.” he said as going into a stretch motion. He watched Wenet jump back up the ladder and climb back into the chair that operated the gunnery systems as he readjusted himself in his current seat

Bexa shakes her head. She had not heard from him. Agrees with Doku’s statement. “When do you think we will hear something?“

Bexa picks up some food. What is she eating? Why is she eating it if she didn’t know what it is? It is likely not poisoned since that would be bad hostman ship. Dying on a ship from eating the food. The newspaper will read: Local girl eats snack and dies.

Bexa wonders if they even have newspapers.. these is the things that ran through her head. Aside from the possibility of dying and the urgency of the situation.

Once they managed to destroy the enemy fighters. The young Jedi now turned her attention to the Carrier.

“R2, scan the ship to see if it’s boardable. What’s the status of the engines and hull stability.” The droid gave her his signature whistle of approval and went to work. Meanwhile, Elyon was looking through the forward view at the wreckage of the fighters. A space around them was full of scrap. It didn’t take long for R2 to complete the scan. The ship was badly damaged, but the engines still seemed stable. The ship’s hull was damaged, but according to the scan, they should be able to get to the bridge and the engine room.

“Thanks R2, good job.“ Elyon told the droid and then opened a comm channel to all Odan-Urr ships.

"The blue spark is calling all Clan vessels. I’ve scanned the ship, it’s damaged, but everything looks stable so far, so we’re going to do a heavy drop and find out who’s behind it all.” The young Jedi left the channel open to hear the communications between the ships and headed her shuttle to the Carrier.

Hawkins lumbered in circles, focusing his attention on the ion turret and sweeping the area to cover and aid in the recovery of the TIE pilot by Skullduggery.

“Gold 3 here, let me know once recover is made.” Hawkins said plainly as he adjusted his shields back to balanced fore and aft and checked if any systems were damaged by the TIE

“Ozlow take over the precision flying and get us close to the dead TIE be wary of it starting back up.” Waza said. “Wenet target the TIE and be ready for anything.”

“ Skulldugery calling for evac for a downed TIE. Pinging location for rescue ship.” OzLow moved the Skullduggery within 2,000 Km of the TIE. Waza lit it up with the landing lights. Within two minutes a rescue shuttle with an X-Wing escort arrived and began docking operations with the TIE.

As the ships sealed the docking ring Waza pulled the ship away. The comm lit up with new information.

“The blue spark is calling all Clan vessels. I’ve scanned the ship, it’s damaged, but everything looks stable so far, so we’re going to do a heavy drop and find out who’s behind it all.”

“Blue Spark, Skulduggery here we will follow you in. There are some people in here with me who would probably like to do something fun.”

Waza flipped the internal comm, “Hey everyone, it seems the carrier ship broke apart and one of ours in going in for a boarding party, I’m taking us in behind her. Get ready to board the Carrier.”

Sitting at the gunners station, Wenet listened to Waza and Doku speak. She didn’t respond, not until she heard blue spark over the comms. Her ears twitched with excitement, when she heard that there was still a large part of the Carrier intact, ’a boarding party’ she thought to herself as she wiggled in her seat and looked up at the overhead display with the live feed.

“Wenet target the TIE and be ready for anything.” she heard Waza say, bringing her focus back to the stranded Eyeball. ”yes sir” she replied and did what was asked. Not much later, after the TIE was secured by another Odanite vessel, Waza told everyone to get ready for boarding. ”Yes!” Wenet replied and wanted to jump off her seat, but then she noticed something on the feed of the scans..

”oh.. wait..” she said and stared at the screen of the targeting computer. ”look… there…” As they moved closer to the debris field targets popped up and disappeared again. ”Did you see that!” she looked at Doku, who had turned his seat and looked at the screen as well. ”I do.. it seems there are still TIEs out there, hiding between the debris of their mothership.” he said and glanced at Waza who immediately informed the other Odanite vessels ”Waza here, stay alert. There are still enemy vessels out there, hiding between the debris..”

Wenet grabbed the controls again as they entered the debri field. They moved slowly, zigzagging their way through the field. It didn’t take long until they came across the first TIE. It was hiding behind a large piece of hull, the moment it came into view it opened fire. But Wenet was ready and immediately fired back. boom! ”Yes!.. one down” she said.. ”Still plenty to go” Waza added as they saw several other TIEs emerging from the field.

Moving through the debris cloud Waza and Wenet kept an eye open for damaged TIEs and ones hiding. Watching the A-Wings and x-wings move about on clean up detail the tension begins to rise. Moving past a large hunk of plasteel the sensors ping as the Skullduggery is suddenly targeted and the shields begin splashing color. Wenet spins the turret around as the Tie ducks under the plane of the fire arc. Waza flips the ship to its port side as bolts of energy lance past. Wenet scores a hit on the solar panel of a wing and set the TIE to spinning. Moto sets the shield to double rear as the TIE makes contact with the Skullduggery. Waza and OzLow spin and flip the ship around to roll with the impact but some damage is done. System alarms begin to sound and Moto starts to vocalize and report on systems going into yellow condition. “Bypass what you can and get the critical one stabilized, we’ll be ok just have to do some work once this is all over.” Waza said to the droid. Waza keyed the internal comm. “Hey folks if things get really bad the Starboard escape pod is not working so avoid that one.”

“Alright Skullduggery. Here we go.” She replied to Eldon through the open channel before turning it off and moving even closer to the remains of the Carrier. R2-E2, who was in charge of the weapons and scanners, alerted her to the enemy in the wreckage of his own ship the moment Waza announced it as well.

“R2, shields up again. First we need to clear our space. Keep the scanners on the Carrier and report any change within the stability of the ship’s engine protection field. If we’re not careful, we’ll be the same wreckage.” The young Jedi said to her astromech and went about piloting it. Her shuttle wasn’t as nimble as the A-wings and X-wings, but it held up just as well in combat.

During one of the evasive maneuvers, she noticed contact between TIEs and Skullduggers. She immediately headed in their direction and R2 began clearing the area around them with fire. The young Jedi made another maneuver to get in front of the damaged Odanite ship, thus forming a cover for them.

“Skullduggers, I’m here to cover you. Report status. Any injuries?” She asked, continuing to hold her ship in front of the Skullduggers.

“We are good just some damage to sub-systems and one semi-critical issue.” Waza replied. “Looks like we are close to the hangar bays. Let’s make a push for them, and get out of this mess.”

Adenn and Rin moved towards the boarding ramp to wait for the boarding party to begin. “Wenet, I expect you to keep up. Once we enter the hanger you should be on your way here.” Rin said to her apprentice.

Bexa and Liz prepared to follow Adenn and Rin out of the door and see what they can find and get into on the bigger ship.

Moto harmonized the shield settings with the Blue Spark doubling the power and extending the sphere to cover both ships. Moto sent a signal to R2-E2 and the heads up displays saying the ships were ready to move in tandem.

Wenet heard the call of her master and momentarily looked flustered. ‘But I have a job to do.’ Wenet thought. Waza could see the struggle wash across her face. “Wenet its ok, she is right once we enter the hanger it would be ok to head down the ladder and take up position with your master. Your job here would be complete till we leave.”

Unknown Space Xyston Class Star Destroyer

The news from the nebula spread fast aboard the star destroyer. Final preparations were being made for the jump to Toola but the atmosphere on the bridge of the destroyer felt more tense than usual. Out of the three support craft that were sent along with the Destroyer only two remained as one never had the chance to make it to the jump point. Lieutenant Johl knew what was coming but only had the goal in mind. Making the jump to Toola was all that mattered to him as the search continued.

From the communications desk one of the officers addressed the Lieutenant as he stared out into space. “Sir, everything is primed and ready. Our support crafts have returned and have also received our next destination jump points as well. We await your command.” the officer said as the Lieutenant turned around to address them.

“Make sure we don’t lose anything else, the Grand Marshall will not be pleased with the lose one of our light cruisers but a necessary step that has to begin. You may make the jump when ready.” With that command the destroyer came to life as the main engines began to engage. Within moments the destroyer and support crafts disappeared from their current location leaving nothing but the sound of an empty void.

Nebula Space Quasar Fire-Class Cruiser

As the last remnants of the TIEs were being dealt with the crews of the Skullduggery, The Blue Spark, and the Y-wing piloted by Ranger Ryan Hawkins were preparing to board what was left of the Imperial cruiser. The wreckage of the cruiser was substantial but enough was intact to board for investigation.

As the ships came into position the full scope of the wreckage could be taken in. The only access point to the boardable section of the ship was the final hangar entrance/exit. Power was still being routed to the deck and the exterior shield was still intact creating a preferable safe vacuum. The ship had entered a sort of “air lock” mode, as the section of the cruiser that was lost was immediately sealed off from the vacuum of space. It was clear the cruiser suffered heavy damage as the lights flickered not only from the hangar entrance but what lights were still active in the bridge.

One by one the ships landed on stable sections of the cruiser as boarding parties were determined.

“Okay, we are ready to tandem.“ The young Jedi replied as a shield harmonization message appeared on her screen as well. She then raised the ship and let the Skullduggers sort of sail under her so that the ships were directly above each other to make the field as effective as possible. Once the ships were in tandem they both headed for the final hangar. Waza landed in the hangar first, followed by Elyon to hold the shield as long as possible. She then primed the engines and headed for the ramp. R2 stopped her with his beeping asking if he could go too.

"Definitely come with me, your skills will certainly come in handy when opening doors and connecting to the mainframe.” She agreed with him and they both started down the ramp from the ships.

The crews of individual ships were already disembarking and securing the hangar. The young Jedi accompanied by R2 joined them and when the hangar was theirs they were able to move forward.

However, the main armored door to the hangar was closed due to safety protocols due to the structural instability of the hull.

Elyon sent R2 there, who opened the door after a while. In front of them was a dark corridor in which some light flickered from time to time.

As the Blue Spark, Skullduggery and Gold three land blaster fire starts pinging off the hull plates. Things got hot as soon as the boarding ramps dropped; lightsabers ignited parrying shots providing cover to exit the ships. As if that was an invitation, the blaster fire intensified on the ramp. Adenn began firing back with her slug throwers, Wenet sliding across the entrance pulling her rifle clear returned fire also.

At the Ramp of the Blue Spark Elyon was able to move quickly with less attention. Approaching the hanger door R2 plugged in and worked on the door. Jedi Ryan hopped out of the Y-Wing as if he was not even there, not a shot fired in his direction. Moving into cover Ryan came up behind Jedi Elyon and her droid opened the hanger door into the hall. Lights dimmed and ominous looking the lights flickered. Foot falls and screams of pain could be heard echoing in the air.

“Moto you stay here, lock up the ship and you all fix what you can while we are gone.” Beeps and whistles returned in answer. “Yes I saw the R2 unit out there, Yes R5 units are better. Yes, you can join me once you and OzLow fix things that can be fixed. OzLow keep us primed and ready to go, I don’t know how this will go or what we are looking for so be ready.”

Waza heard all the blaster fire at the ramp and Ozlow starting to complain about the damage being done to the framework. Waza went to a dorsal hatch, exited the ship, and jumped down off the side moving to flank the hidden shooters. Rounding a row of crates and debris Waza saw the first group firing at his ship and the others. Calling on the force Waza pushed their cover back and over them trapping them under it.

With the break in intensity, Doku and Bexa break from the ramp and head into the damaged TIES and crane structures scattered on the floor. As some of the next group shift their fire at Bexa as she sprints behind Doku, Waza finds them unaware they were already dead. Waza pours Force Lightening into the group silencing the blaster fire and those not hit run away. Adenn takes the target of opportunity to make them pay for starting the wife fight. The Slug throwers popping as the projectiles find their mark each one left falls in a heap.

“We should cover more ground and come back with any intel we can gather.” Doku says. “Rin can you take your apprentice Wenet and Adenn and follow that hall, looks like Elyon and Ryan are headed that way. I will take Bexa with me. Waza will you be good on your own?”

“Another day at the office, Moto will be joining me after some repairs are done so I’ll be good” Waza said.

Elyon/Ryan The dark hall stretched before them, helmets rocking back and forth as if they had been recently discarded. In the flashes of light burn marks could be seen from an explosion. Melted and destroyed panels dotted the hall. Large doors were spaced evenly down the hall. Each one over 10 Meters tall. “This must be the storage for land based vehicle for access to the hanger for drop to a location.” Ryan said. “We may be able to get some idea of their force strength for this area.” Elyon said. “R2 can you get us in?” R2 trundles up to the door and makes short work of it, sliding open a cavernous room filled with tanks and armored vehicles stretch before them. “Well that’s good to know.” Says Ryan. Moving down the hall on the same side is a personnel door. It slides half-open as they approach. Using the force to move it the rest of the way the pair walks into what appears to be a mess hall for hundreds for people. Tables and chairs bolted to the floor and some scattered from the explosion and destruction of the ship.

Rin, Wenet, Adenn The Trio moves along another hall and up some stairs. Bodies lined the hall laying in contorted poses as if they were dolls cast aside and forgotten. The smell of death made Wenet wrinkle her nose but she kept her composure and kept an eye out for any movement. By the looks of the uniforms all manner of ship’s crew was in the hall when they died. Stepping to the landing at the top of the stairs an area opened with several doors. IT appeared they had found a hub of activity with multiple options to explore Rin picked the first door on the left. “That one first.”

Doku, Bexa Doku and Bexa move across the hanger to a hall that quickly narrows by comparison to the other near caverns the other teams took. About the width of four people, the rooms with open doors appear to be living quarters with person effects scattered about and spilled into the hall. “These may be flight officers’ quarters or offices of hanger crews.” Doku said. “Let’s check these out quickly” The first room was an office with flight rotations listed on a wall panel, flimplasts of pilots’ records scattered and falling out of folders. “They are using paper instead of datapads? Maybe this is where the old man was kept busy who refused to retire?” Bexa said. Moving to the next room across the hall. More computer terminals, some of them smashed a few still operable. Bexa and Doku settled in to see what they could gather.

Waza Waza watched the others move out and split up. He scanned the hanger for any movement and signs of pursuit of the groups. Once all seems to go smoothly Waza started his mission of finding the engine room and determining how this ship could get here. Synchronizing his comm location with Moto he headed into the depths of the ship. Moving quickly reaching out with the force to sense for beings around him Waza found the path clear as far as he could sense. Trying his luck he pushed the buttons for the turbo lift. The force was with him for now as one opened and still had power. He let the force guide his choice for destination. As the lift lurched and swayed, it became obvious the inertial dampeners were blown. Waza hoped the lift would not smash him to jelly when it finally stopped. Hitting a section of rail that was damaged the lift bounced knocking Waza to the floor unexpectedly. The doors opened half to a floor. Crawling out Waza was not sure he would be able to make it back to his ship now. Entering a door at the end of the hall the engine room opened before him, crew were still operating stations and fighting fires. Trying to gain control of the ship and make an escape. He made his way around the room searching for an important component he could destroy and cause them to give up and evacuate. Any tech he could claim for the Clan would make up for the loss of his life if he could get it back home somehow.

As Waza turned down a path that turned into scaffolding above what could only be the actual ships drive engine a cloaked figure stood. “I knew you’d be here Waza, this time I will win.” With a mechanical arm, the figure drew a lightsaber from his belt and ignited it.

“It’s been twenty years and you still can’t let this go?” Waza asked. Looking around for vantage points, weapons or people. Nothing but the two of them and a cat walk. ‘This is going to be ugly.’ Waza thought; he was glad no one would be here to witness this. He would maintain as long as he could but the history would bring out the darkness he had tried so hard to bury. “You took her from me!” “Look Kasar, you broke the vow, you fell to the dark side pulling us with you. It took years to break free of the dark side for us. It was the last bit of hate she had to let go of before she died. Yes she hated you up to the day she died in my arms.” “You lie she can’t be dead I love her. I can still feel her.” “That is her checking on you from the force. Touching your soul to see if you have found your way back to the light.”. Kasar screamed “Its better to burn out than fade away!!” Charging Waza Kasar brought his saber from high guard with a slash aimed for Waza’s head. Waza dodged ducking down and stepping back, with Kasar over extended in rage Waza punched Kasar in the kidney and ignited his saber at the same time. The blade opening and cauterizing a wound from waist to shoulder. The injury pushed more pain and anger through his body. Falling on the rail Kasar wailed in pain. Waza took two steps back and took up the mid guard setting up his Vaapad form.

“We don’t have to do this. Let it go and live a life, let go of the Dark side. We learned all this together, we lived and learned, let go and return to the light.” Waza pleaded with his childhood friend. Kasar stood and spit at Waza “We learned you stole her from me and you lived the life I was supposed to have. You didn’t love her like I could. Together we could have taken empires and molded the universe to our will.” “No I loved her enough to let her break away and have space to live and heal. I lost her too. She left me for years. She found me when she was ready; you searched for her? You hounded her; stalked her. This is your last chance. I am not the same Jedi that severed your arm then helped you seek medical aid. I am not the same Jedi you pulled to the dark side. I am now an instrument of the force I live in the gray; I see more than you ever will.” With that, Waza pressed a vicious attack forcing his foe backward. The sabers clashed; kicks and punches exchanged. Both men moving in the confines of the small walk way.

Waza stumbled, his foot sliding in the blood spilling from the initial wound on Kasar’s back. Kasar laughed maniacally as his saber hit Wazas arm and slid towards his head. Pain lanced through Waza’s shoulder as the saber slide off the armor and bounced into flesh. Waza rolled backwards as Kasar rushed in. The green white blade of Waza’s saber entered Kasar’s knee and sliced up through the thigh muscles exposing the bone. Kasar fell backwards scrambling away from the pain. The injury to Waza shoulder was deeper than he thought, Waza had lost the use of his left arm and blood was soaking his armor and tunic. With his saber attached to his belt again, Waza rose and stood over the fallen Dark Jedi.

“Help me brother that’s what you do isn’t it?” Kasar Spit again. “Save me and I will keep coming for you. I will kill you while you are merciful. Oh look at me I’m a Jedi. You worthless Hutt slime filth.” “See that’s where you are wrong. I have been both Light and Dark. I walked away from the Force, I have watched love die in my arms. I have seen Life spring eternal and Death circle around to claim what it is owed.” Waza pulled Kasars saber from his hand. “You know nothing of power and life. You are a fool; an old man to stubborn to die.” Waza Looked around. Fires spread in the room; the engine below was smoking and setting electricity arcing through the air.

“I may be too stubborn to die the as the Force wills it I live, but right now I have a mission to complete twenty years late.” Waza tucked kasars saber into his belt. Kasar struggled to his feet. “We are not done here.” He screamed and let loose lightening which Waza blocked with his own saber. The roar of the dragon amplified by the lightening. Waza stepped closer, with four slashes of the saber, Waza ended the life of his friend, and the suffering caused to Jho Shadea, Waza’s first love. Waza was now the only remaining member of his Jedi academy class and friends. “Jho I completed my promise, rest in the force now.” Waza dropped to one knee next to the remains of his fallen friend. His arm useless, his heart broken, unable to move for what seemed like an eternity. Waza knew this ship would be his grave also. ‘Waza’ a voice called his name.

‘Waza, its time to let go. Release the final emotions. We all can be at peace now’ Waza looked up to see a force apparition of Jho. Shimmering in swirls of white and muted colors. Waza stood leaning on the railing, his head spinning from the loss of blood, his heart breaking, sobs coming from his soul. “The force asks so much, takes so much, where is the balance? It can’t only be balance between life and death. Is the love we shared being paid for now in pain?” ‘The force wills the existence of us all; Waza now is not your time. You have beings who need you. Go to them now.’

Waza made his way to the main console of the engine room as Moto entered the door. “Good to see you buddy. Can you get any data on this engine before the whole system goes. I’m not sure how much longer any of us have.” Waza says as he slides into the floor. Blood beginning to pool at his side. Waza concentrates on the open wound, staunching the blood flow with the force. “Hey buddy do you happen to have a med pack on you? I’m going to need it in a minute.” Moto rolls over, extends a small lance arm, and sprays liquid bandage over the shoulder wound. Beeping Moto heads to the door. “I guess you got what we could huh?” Waza Says as he climbs out of the floor and follows Moto to the turbo lift.

Rin, Wenet, Adenn

Adenn and Rin took lead as they ventured further into the carrier. Wenet had already forgotten about what happened back on the Skullduggery. The jealousy she felt about the room for Adenn, had faded instantly the moment she heard Blue Spark over comms telling them the carrier was still partly still on tact. Now there was only excitement that surged through her body as they made their way up the stairs.

Seeing the lifeless bodies of the crew scattered across the corridor made the Kushiban suspicious. What killed them all at once? she thought to herself. This part of the Carrier was still in tact so she had expected some dead and many wounded. But being the most inexperienced she kept her thoughts to herself and followed the two warriors.

“That one first” Rin said and stepped towards the first door on the left. ”ready?” the Cathar asked the others as she stood next to the donor’s control panel. ”When am I not ready” the towering Echani said and loaded her slug thrower. ”yeah! I was born ready” Wenet added, trying to sound cool next to the two warriors, and pointed her rifle at the door. Rin grinned at her apprentice, approving her small Kushiban’s attitude and then hit the panel. The doors slowly slid open revealing a controll room of some sorts. But before they could enter and investigate shots where fired from inside the room.

Adenn positioned herself to the right of the door, Rin stood on the other side. But Wenet, instead of taking cover, dashed through the open door. Being so small, the individuals inside the room hadn’t even noticed her as they were taking cover themselves. Covering Wenet, Adenn and Rin opened fire, allowing the Kushiban to sneak around the room. They manage to take out five but two of them they keep missing. Hiding behind work stations and corpses Wenet eventually made it to the other side, ”gotcha!” she said full of confidence as she positioned herself behind a woman in an officers uniform. ”stand down… or you’re dead.. and tel your friend to stand down as well”.

Hunched down behind a control panel, the woman turned her head. She was surprised to see Wenet and smiled. She then glanced at her colleague, a young man with reddish hair across from her and then back to Wenet again. ”Lower your weapons” the Kushiban said. ”You won’t take us alive” the woman said and instantly the young man’s eyes widened. He shook his head, looking afraid and before he could say anything the woman shot him and then herself.

Confused, Wenet stood there, she didn’t even hear when Adenn and Rin called out to her if she was ok.

… ”Wenet!.. you ok?..” … Adenn’s voice called out.

… ”Wenet!”.. Rin added as they stepped into the room. It turned out to be the controll room overlooking the main hanger. ”Wenet?”

Wenet finally replied ”Yeah.. I’m.. I’m ok.. I.. “ she stammered and stepped closer to the now dead woman. ”Why in the galaxy did she do that?… I don’t understand” Wenet said and looked up at Rin who was now standing next to her..

Bexa,Doku Bexa sits down at computer. Skimming files for any information. Looking for key words or phrases that might stick out. She asks Doku if he’s found anything. “I haven’t found much yet but let’s keep looking.” Bexa ponders on an thought… “The files could be encrypted which would make them much harder to find. I don’t have the skills for that though. Do you?”

Bexa/Doku

“I do not unfortunately, however it doesn’t seem to be that difficult to figure out. Imperial codes nowadays have gotten similar in usage.” Doku said as he keyed in an access code that was written down on what appeared to be a notepad next to the terminal he was sitting at. “Apparently they are not all that smart at this particular station. Let’s see what you were working on.” he laughed to himself as he started to comb through the terminal’s many folders and files.

Several of the folders were labeled with mundane titles; Boring Protocols, Forms for Munitions Requisition, Womp Rat Sniping Videos. Most of the file folders on this terminal were starting to become useless until one file folder grabbed Doku’s attention.

“Lieutenant Johls Meeting Notes? Now here’s a bit of information that could be useful.” Doku said with an excited tone. According to the files the individual assigned to this station was a secretary of some sort, who didn’t follow much protocol but was very detailed. Reaching down to his belt he withdrew what appeared to be a small portable data slate that he plugged into the terminal. He selected a couple key files along with the meeting notes and moved them over to the data slate.

It would be some time before the data fully transferred, he turned to face Bexa as she turned toward the entryway. The sound of saber slashes could be heard from inside the hangar. Suddenly a rush of emotion could be felt as the loss of life was evident but he could still feel the presence of one of their own. The ping of the terminal could be heard as the data transfer was completed, Doku quickly gathered the data slate and turned towards Bexa.

“I believe our task is done here, we should head back to the Skullduggery and check on Waza. I fear something has happened but I’m not entirely sure.” Bexa nodded as the two hurried back to the ship.

Little did they know that once the data transfer was complete, an error message appeared on the screen stating that one of the engines’ integrity was failing.

Moto plugs into the turbo lift and begins the move towards the hanger. Various klaxons try to sound but fizz and overlap making for a cacophony of sound that would give a hutt a headache.

The lift opens as the lights and sounds fade away. Waza stumbles into the hall and follows Moto towards the hanger. Keying his comm “Uhm,,,Ever,,one. I broke the engine. We need to go soon, not sure how much longer it will last.”

The fires in the hanger have spread, smoke fills the air, OzLow has the landing lights on the Skuduggery casting a glow through the smoke. Moto trundles ahead and opens the ramp and returns to Waza to help him up the ramp and take him to the med bay to start medical attention.

“OzLow as soon as everyone is back get us out of here.” Waza says as he strips out of the armor and the blood soaked tunic. He collapses on the med bed and tried to program the med center as Moto beeps and whistles and him annoyingly. Moto sets the doctor program to run and soon Waza is under sedation and the robo doc unit is working on reconnecting the nerves and artery to save his life.

Rin, Wenet, Adenn

Rifle ready, Wenet stood guard. Eyes on the door while Adenn and Rin searched the control room for anything useful. She couldn’t help but think about what she had just witnessed. ’We’re the good guys.. we.. we don’t torture people.. right?’ she thought to herself. Only from the changing expressions on her furry face one could see she was having an inner monologue. ’Why do they prefer to die?… What was she afraid of?’ She remembered the face of the young man, looking in fear at his commanding officer before she shot him.

”looks like we’re leaving” Adenn suddenly interrupted Wenet’s train of thought. ”leaving?.. we got what we needed?” the Kushiban asked and looked over her shoulder at the towering Echani standing at the window overlooking the main hangar. ”I guess so.. looks like Waza had some action.. he’s a mess” Adenn said as she turned towards Rin ”and?” The Cathar looked up ”I’m just as good with computers as you… can’t find anything.. let’s head back, see what happened you the old man” she said with a smirk at Adenn.

Wenet of course noticed the way her Master mentioned Waza but said nothing about it and just stepped outside of the room ”all clear!.. let’s get go” she didn’t even wait for them and left, heading back to the stairs that lead back to the hanger.

Ryan/Elyon

Ryan winced a little and tried to quiet his mind as he passed the remnants of the dead or imagined those who may have once walked these corridors as they met their final moments. While their spirits did not yet seem present or their cries or pain, he knew they could come on all too soon.

“So much death here,” Ryan whispered. He clearly did not mean to simply state the obvious, but felt a need to break the silence of the dead and the quiet susurrus of failing machines whirring in their death throes.

He turned to Elyon, “I wonder if anyone was eating here off shift when the end came.” His tone was odd, morbid, and wracked with a sadness that was quietly pained and resigned.

Once Waza had been secured in the med bed, Moto bolted to the cockpit joining OzLow. Beeping and whistling could be heard before the doors sealed. “Engaging protocol special package.” OzLow said sealing the doors to the cockpit and locking down the access to the rear systems station.

“Attention special passengers and colleagues of Master Waza. Until he regains functionality, the bridge is closed to all passengers. Please make yourselves at home in the foodstuff area and the bunkrooms until transit to a location for you all to depart. Thank You.” After that internal broadcast OzLow keyed the Comm channels of those not on board yet. “Could everyone return to the Ship please we have medical needs to be addressed.” Bexa and Doku left the room of computer terminals and headed back to the hanger to see it filling with smoke and fire. Sprinting to the ship, they could feel the ship lift slightly off the ground and begin aligning for departure.

Adenn, Rin and Wenet hear the call by Ozlow and begin to move a bit faster clearing the hall. Wenet still bothered by the senseless act of the officer she determined to seek help understanding how the human mind could process a thought to that conclusion. When they entered the hanger, they see the Skullduggery spinning in place vectoring to the hanger bay entrance and space. Just as they take another step there is a rending sound of metal giving up and splitting from far away vibrating through the big ship. The trio pick up the pace and full on sprint to the ramp. As they near the ship Adenn and Wenet see the trail of blood across the hanger to where the ramp previously sat. Catching up to the entrance is no difference. A puddle and another trail into the ship. “The old man might be in trouble.” Wenet said to Adenn, who tried not to let concern cross her face.

Elyon and Ryan enter the hanger with explosions rocking the far reaches of the carrier, sprint towards their respective craft, and lift off clearing the hanger and more of the hanger overhead cranes and the hanger bay floor falls through. OzLow closes the ramp as everyone makes it to safety and pushes the Skullduggery clear of the ship and calls the ODN Sunrider for emergency landing for medical assistance.

Skullduggery Sight of Imperial TIE Cruiser

The sight of the Imperial cruiser exploding from the inside was a sight to see. The ship’s hull split at the seams as the reactor imploded on itself as a backup measure in case somebody was attempting to steal the ship. No doubt to hide any further information that could be pulled from its systems. It was quiet in the Skullduggery as the droids OzLow and Moto guided the ship to the ODN Sunrider to treat the wounded. As the ship rocked back and forth the sight of the battle could finally be observed.

Several TIE fighters were destroyed with minor lost to our own. Between Titan Squadron and Master Gui, the TIE fighters never really stood a chance. Such devastation never comes at a cost but the death toll was not high on the side of Odanites.

“Attention passengers, we are arriving at the ODN Sunrider. For those that need immediate medical attention there will be medics on stand by.” The intercom sparked with life as OzLow had pinged the ship with the announcement. In moments the ODN Sunrider came into view as the Skullduggery made its descent into the hangar bay.

ODN Sunrider Hangar Bay

The Sunrider was bustling with life as the Skullduggery along with Ryan Hawkin’s Y-wing and the Blue Spark landed in their respective and assigned hangar bays. As the landing gear engaged a medical team was on standby to treat any wounded. The ship lowered its boarding ramp and the medical quickly made their way onboard. A floating treatment bed descended from the ship as Waza was being transported out by the medical team.

“Be sure to inform either myself or Master Gui when he recovers. I will be returning back to the Praxeum, we found some information that may prove useful.” Doku said to one of the medical crew as they moved Waza to the medical bay.

He turned to the rest of the crew as well as Hawkins and Elyon as they made their way over. “I don’t have to tell you what we will have to prepare for. Only that it may come sooner rather than later. You are all welcome to stay on the Sundrider as long as you need but I have to return to the Praxeum. Master Gui and Master Revak need to be told what was found on the carrier, at least for the most part. Good job today, we all had a purpose in this battle and I dare say we came out on top pretty successfully.” With his speech complete Doku made his way over to one of the shuttles that was prepared to leave for the Praxeum.