Star Wars Intervention: Echoes in Eternity (An Original Trilogy Game; Always taking new players!!!)

IC: Evalynne Smith
Aboard the Blood Moon

"Swifts, Grim.... Report and engage enemy fighters on sight. Prosecute to kill!" Aidan called out. Prosecute to kill probably meant making sure they were utterly destroyed. That was easy enough from context. So far, so good, anyway.

Evalynne kept an eye on the sensors while Uriel started muttering about the shields and the loads they carried. The older being was clearly used to either working on his own or having every one of his orders followed to the letter. Probably the latter, since he'd mentioned he'd commanded Imperial ships. However, he wasn't an Imperial fleet or ship commander anymore, he wasn't on his own ship, and he wasn't making himself look trustworthy by running around and doing things that the ship's captain had neither asked nor ordered him to do. To Evalynne, it just seemed like common sense to pay attention to the person in charge of the ship she was on. Granted, that could be due to the slight guilt she felt for having stowed away in the first place, but probably not.

"Damn !!! ONE million Damn it!" Uriel said in response to the comm traffic coming from the Fluffy. "Hyper velocity gun !! Damn it !! The thing is much more serious than you might think! We have not countermeasures against this!"

No countermeasures? Evalynne had never even heard of a hyper-velocity gun, whatever that was. Sounded pretty scary, especially if there were no countermeasures. Oh, why had she climbed onto this ship? Had it been the result of Owen having whacked her in the head?

No, no, getting onboard had been her choice and her fault. Now to live (hopefully) with the consequences of her decisions.

She swallowed her fear and focused back on the scanners.

“Evalynne,” Owen said. She caught a glimpse of him looking at her from over his shoulder. “Any enemy contacts on sensors, I do not have a visual.”

"None I can see except the ones the Merc fighters are almost or are in range with," she said. "At least, that's what these seem to be telling me."

Before Owen could answer her, Uriel slapped his console and said, "Okay. I understand when I am not welcome ..."

It was if he were holding a conversation with himself--or had a way to hear what was going on in the cockpit. Anyway, in Evalynne's experience (which, granted, was still fairly minimal), people made themselves welcome by doing what was asked of them. Still, different planets did have different cultures, so maybe that wasn't always the case throughout the Galaxy. Or maybe that was just her personality.

Either way, not her current problem.

Aidan's voice piped into the room they were all working in: "Terrel, we're to external-dock with Johnny Boy, both of us to air-lock aboard..."

Well, that meant that their orders had changed. Something had shifted, at any rate, seeing as the Merc ship had apparently recalled them from their current path to dock with it. Odd. What could have made them change their minds?

Maybe it was some tactic meant to do something spectacular or heroic or economical. Evalynne was sure they had their reasons.

But leave herself, Owen, and Uriel alone on the ship while Terrel and Aidan went aboard? That didn't seem very logical nor security-minded to Evalynne, especially seeing as none of them were particularly vetted quite yet.

And while she knew she wasn't a security threat, she was afraid that they'd see her as a liability instead of an asset. Even if she'd just stayed at her station and done the tasks assigned to her. (Unlike some people she knew.)

In fact, that person was speaking to Owen at this very moment: "Grim, if you want I can make a communication link between you and your ship."

Uriel was doing the staring thing again, except this time it wasn't directed at her. That was a relief, anyway. But he seemed like he was hiding anger under his cheerfulness, like a reef under waves, or an asteroid lurking near a hyperspace lane, or an engine with a loose connection--whatever for? That, Evalynne had no answer to.

Seemed like more and more, her answer was that she didn't have answers. Well, maybe she'd find some out here in the wider galaxy. If she lived long enough to do so.

TAG: All ya'll.
OOG: Well, that was a bit of catch-up to have done.

 

IC: Uriel Manteroni
Blood Moon Cockpit - Negative-vertical heading 'Beneath' Munifex Cruiser, near Draukyze System.
Thought; speech, action, NPC, PC.

Uriel heard the JB answer:

So soon after JB's response to Vamp:

Vamp replies: "Copy clear, JB. Your orders will be followed to the letter, Nsiss Clawcraft Vamp."

Vamp then initiates the sequence of maneuvers defined. Hmmm ... when can I regain access to my ship ?...

Uriel noticed that Evalynne was watching him. Apparently this girl has a mixture of fear and contempt for me ... well do not blame her ... after all these days, the things are a little confused ... I'm not used to taking orders and especially to have "my"orders ignored .. .


Tag: Sith-I-5, Bravo, Intervention, Tim Battershell, galactic-vagabond422, Laine_Snowtrekker

 

IC: Aidan Dodd
Blood Moon Cockpit - Escorting Bantha-class ship Fluffy, near Draukyze System.

"Solid copy, Blood Moon. But let their owners know that if they divert from any standard CAP routine---which I am data sending you a link now---then they will be blown to bits. I've had enough surprises for one day. Johnny Boy clear,"

Data burst received and retransmitted together with recall signal. Acknowledgement and thanks transmitted to Johnny Boy in your voice., 'Passepartout' prints up on the translation screen. Voice Stress Analysis indicates Johnny Boy most serious about ships keeping to required protocols. Advise informing MIBs soonest.

Going by 'Passepartout's normal nomenclature, I take it that 'MIBs' means 'Meatbags-In-Back', so I call through to the Cabin,

"Very good work, everyone! Owen, Uriel Johnny Boy has approved your fighters rejoining, but has laid down strict criteria. Suggest you both emphasise that Johnny Boy's instructions are to be followed exactly. We don't want any nasty incidents!

Evalynne, you said that 'Swifts' was your 'racing name'. What did you race and how did you do at it, if you don't mind me asking?"

My first four words are aimed more at the two youngest members of my 'crew' than anyone else and my inquiry to Evalynne is in hope of setting up a slight ploy; one intended to safeguard her from any stupid and over-hasty actions by Uriel, without letting her know that she's being protected! It's too much to hope she's a qualified ship's pilot already, but someone who's successfully raced speeders, speederbikes, perhaps even swoops, might well train-up into a good pilot over time.

Having 'Passepartout' give her an overview of Blood Moon's controls, and perhaps let her run a few simulations through the deactivated pilot's station will, at least, get her into an area that is proof against depressurisation and also provides a convenient excuse for taking the manual controls off-line during my visit aboard the Johnny Boy! I'm not going to have a 'mercurial someone' ship-jack Blood Moon if I can help it!


TAG: Uriel Manteroni, Bravo, galactic-vagabond422, Laine_Snowtrekker

 

IC: Agent Devon Robie, Agent Johmer Evanzon, the 'Fluffy' Bantha-class assault transport

Devon listened to the suggestion from Blood Moon, "Fluffy, Blood Moon. Are you still combat-capable? If so, suggest we both adjust course and speed to support our Snubfighters attacking Escape-vessel spat out by Cruiser! They may need our firepower to force a decision."

Devon was concerned about shedding speed while the Skipray was stilling piling down after them at an un-diminished speed, thinking about a collision.

Out the forward port blister, and to the right, a distant golden string, bright against the empty blackness of space, looked to be accelerating ahead, and as it didn't stretch back past them up to the pirate craft, it had either stopped firing, or run out of ammo.

"Devon, we need to track that HVG string."

The Rodian almost retorted as to Why, but he knew why. At those velocities, the HVG shells would continue on their heading almost ad infinitum, and in a day, a month, years, cause a hazard for someone else down the road.

"On it." Devon set the scanners broadly towards the fleeing yellow string, and steered the Fluffy to starboard, taking them closer to the line of HVG shells.

All the other shells sprayed about earlier, equally hazardous to someone, somewhere, were a lost cause, but these, that they still had line-of-sight on, they could do something about them.

Rear scanners showed the Blood Moon matching their course and speed, though Devon doubted the Skipray's captain understood what the Fluffy was now up to.

"All Guardian assets and CAP, hustle back to the Johnny Boy immediately. We have a new development. Blood Moon, you'll have to dock exterior as previous and air lock in. Fluffy, exterior dock as well. Reserve Flight, maintain escort. All Command Staff, Department Heads, and Pilots to the Mess Hall for brief and debrief. Johnny Boy clear."

Devon was slightly mollified that the Johnny Boy' Captain had gotten the name of his ship right, this time.
He didn't like to go against the order, but that fact was, SGIS were allies, not under Merc' command.

He sent back, "Johnny Boy, Fluffy. We are in pursuit of unspent Hyper Velocity Gun shells on our heading which now constitute space hazard. We will rejoin you after we have destroyed as many as we can, or meet you back at the DD. Fluffy out."

The Rodian cut the transmission to the Merc' corvette, and called his partner in the other part of the Bantha. "Johmer, once we start hitting these shells, the explosions and shockwaves are going to start sending the undamaged neighbours on diverse alternate headings, which we probably won't be able to interdict."

"Yeah, but what can we do?" The jedi asked.

"Well, we know their heading. We know that. Why don't we divert to Draukyze, get a tractor projector installed, then light-jump to where we reckon these shells will be next."

In his mind, they could pull in behind the string, use the tractor to grab hold of the last shell in the line, decelerate it a safe distance behind the rest of the line, destroy it, then proceed after the next-to-last shell, rinse and repeat. It would take ages, to be sure, with the scan showing the string containing about two hundred shells, but-

"I dunno." Evanson sounded dubious about the idea. "I don't like the idea of losing sight of these things. Suppose they hit someone while we are on Draukyze."

Devon threw up his hands, "There is no-one around here! We are in empty space, and it'll be light years before we start meeting traffic around one of the other Thanium Sector worlds."

"Not willing to take the risk, Dev'. This needs to be taken care of, now. Take us in closer, and I'll start hitting the maximum amount of them that I can, hopefully minimising the ones that start flying off at tangents."

"Okay...I hope you know what you are doing!"

Devon started to nose his Bantha towards the string, and increased sublight speed after them, the pirate ship and the Johnny Boy forgotten and receding far behind.

Tag: Tim Battershell, Bravo, Laine_Snowtrekker (only cos she's on sensors)

 

IC: Evalynne Smith
Aboard the Blood Moon

"Evalynne, you said that 'Swifts' was your 'racing name'. What did you race and how did you do at it, if you don't mind me asking?"

Odd time for a question about that; then again, they were no longer under attack. "An old Air-2 swoop bike. I wanted a Zephyr-G, but a used Air-2 was cheaper. A little harder to find parts for and a little more tricky to control, but nothing too bad."

Evalynne paused, thinking for a moment. How could she explain that she had raced, not for prizes or accolades, but for the feeling of the wind in her face and the thrill of handling the tricky machine? Winning was secondary to feeling free. "I raced on an amateur track on my homeplanet. I did well enough that I'm not dead and avoided any major injuries. Would have been hard to explain injuries to my parents except that they allowed me to own a speeder bike. The swoop I kept...elsewhere."

Elsewhere being first at Lael's place, and then, after losing Lael to a crash and meeting Jasan, at Jasan's place. Jasan's dad hadn't minded, anyway. Lael had been the one to nickname her 'Swifts,' two cycles before his crash.

Anyway, it wasn't time for reminiscing. Evalynne wondered if she needed to add anything to what she'd said, but then noticed something on the sensors.

If everyone had been ordered to head back to the Johnny Boy, then one of the ships wasn't complying. It was the Bantha-class Fluffy.

"Captain, the Fluffy has broken off and headed away from both of the bigger ships, as well as from us," she said. "If the Johnny Boy doesn't know, they probably should."

TAG: Tim Battershell, others in the Blood Moon

 

IC: Owen Byrne
On board the Skipray, Draukyze System

"None I can see except the ones the Merc fighters are almost or are in range with," Evalynne said in reply. "At least, that's what these seem to be telling me."

“Thanks,” Owen said leaning back in his chair. The adrenaline began to leave his system and his muscles started feeling sore. A body could only take wearing 20 kilograms of armor for so long. The pain was especially great from his left knee, another injury from the same time as his ear. Aiden called back into the cabin talking to Vacks,

"Terrel, we're to external-dock with Johnny Boy, both of us to air-lock aboard. 'Passepartout', you have the con. Match the Fluffy's course and speed. Also, copy IFF information to Owen's and Uriel's fighters. Make sure Fluffy is tagged as a friendly. If permission granted by Johnny Boy, send out the recall signal and have both fighters take station on her." The soldier raised an eyebrow under his helmet. This day was getting stranger, now a droid was his commanding officer. As he went to remove his helmet, Uriel began speaking.

"Grim, if you want I can make a communication link between you and your ship."

“Thanks, Vampire," the gunner replied, "if any orders come down for the Anvil and R send them straight away. It’ll comply.”

"Very good work, everyone!” The Captain said “Owen, Uriel Johnny Boy has approved your fighters rejoining, but has laid down strict criteria. Suggest you both emphasise that Johnny Boy's instructions are to be followed exactly. We don't want any nasty incidents!” Before he could acknowledge the command, Aiden continued “Evalynne, you said that 'Swifts' was your 'racing name'. What did you race and how did you do at it, if you don't mind me asking?" Owen listened intently; he was interested to learn about his new squad.

"An old Air-2 swoop bike.” She answered “I wanted a Zephyr-G, but a used Air-2 was cheaper. A little harder to find parts for and a little more tricky to control, but nothing too bad." The girl seemed to speak with some authority on the subject, well more authority than Owen would ever have. "I raced on an amateur track on my homeplanet. I did well enough that I'm not dead and avoided any major injuries. Would have been hard to explain injuries to my parents except that they allowed me to own a speeder bike. The swoop I kept...” She paused as if remembering something painful “elsewhere."

The young man finally removed his ‘bucket’ and took a deep breath. The air outside his helmet felt different, probably because it wasn’t passed through another set of filters. He contemplated removing more of his armor. Just the outer plates and leaving his body glove on but, decided against it. The black under suit left little to the imagination and he still felt a little nervous around these new people, especially Evalynne.

“Vampire, make sure R knows follows the Johnny Boy’s orders to the letter.” Owen was confident that his astromech would obey any command given but, Aiden said to make sure.

"Captain, the Fluffy has broken off and headed away from both of the bigger ships, as well as from us," Evalynne said. The former freelancer leaned forward putting his hands back on his station. "If the Johnny Boy doesn't know, they probably should." Day wasn't over yet apparently.

TAG: Uriel Manteroni Laine_Snowtrekker Tim Battershell

 

IC: Masha Tinovorsh
Combat Escort, CAP, Johnny Boy

"Copy that, Edge. Take up position beneath the Johnny Boy, please. Suggest one kilometre from her hull. Good to hear from you, Guardian 7. Guardian 14, out."

"Roger, 14, out."

---

"ATTENTION ALL MERC FORCES. All Guardians assets, redeploy to assist Blood Moon. Blood Moon, you are lead on rescue; no joy on tractor beam assist. Ironhand, continue on special assignment to Johnny Boy. Reserve Flight, maintain CAP around Johnny Boy. All forces, beware of unknown enemy weapon from pirate frigate, possible self-destruct to follow. Make it snappy people! Johnny Boy clear of comms!"

Masha startled in her seat as she took her ordered position guarding the Johnny Boy, she looked to the Pirate ship, was it... Splitting... ? She shook her head slightly to regain focus. In all the commotion, she noticed the IFF reading of Winterkill's X-wing, multiple enemy units escorting the evading module of the Pirate ship.

"Specter! Edge en route to assist!" her heart beat rapidly, going full throttle to his position. He went after the module, she could take the escorts... The rest was up to him, he was closer; she armed her cluster missiles... Last two for two Toscans escorting the module.

Her targeting indicator held... Multiple target lock... No joy on the module, missiles away; "Fox two!"

As the cluster missiles impacted the Toscans, Specter's missiles were away, "Toscan escorts down... Specter, can you confirm?"

No response... Her heart stopped... Realizing how reckless she had been in her desperation to end the battle... "Edge to Specter... "

She paused and cleared her throat...

"How copy?"

Her comms sounded distant as a transmission from the JB came through, "All Guardian assets and CAP, hustle back to the Johnny Boy immediately. We have a new development. Blood Moon, you'll have to dock exterior as previous and air lock in. Fluffy, exterior dock as well. Reserve Flight, maintain escort. All Command Staff, Department Heads, and Pilots to the Mess Hall for brief and debrief. Johnny Boy clear."

She wasn't leaving Winterkill behind.

TAGS: Bravo, greyjedi125, Sith-I-5, Bardan_Jusik (if needed)

OOG: Sorry if this is hard to follow, I will be able to keep up better at the end of this story arc.

 

IC: Aidan Dodd
Blood Moon Cockpit - Escorting Bantha-class ship Fluffy, near Draukyze System.

So Evalynne raced swoops! That's an encouraging sign, particularly that she managed to avoid major injuries riding something that's basically a rocket engine with a saddle on top. Speeder bikes are difficult enough to master. Swoops are even more so. They're first cousins to the, old-time, Pod-Racers, which were banned as 'too dangerous'!

No reply to my last transmission from the Fluffy. That said, she's veered towards the stream of HVG projectiles in the distance and increased her speed. Has she suffered a 'runaway Sublight drive'? That would be a highly unusual event, but it's not unheard of.... Or is she off on some Galactic 'litter-picking' expedition for reasons unknown? Granted the projectiles pose a potential hazard to shipping in realspace or occupied planets, but the former would be in Hyperspace all the way out here and of Solar Systems necessary for the latter, I can see little or no sign. Stars get few and far between once one drops below the Galactic Plane.

Decisions, decisions; we're back to decisions again!

Evalynne reports the sensors are confirming what I can see with my own eyes. Can't fault her; she's doing her job and doing it well. Still, her "Captain, the Fluffy has broken off and headed away from both of the bigger ships, as well as from us.... If the Johnny Boy doesn't know, they probably should." gives me an excuse to Comm the Johnny Boy again.

"Johnny Boy - Actual, Blood Moon - Actual. Fluffy shows no sign of slowing or reversing course. Have you been in contact with her directly, as to reason? Will leave her to own devices if so ordered; but please be advised that if you want to tranship people or stores, she is by far the best choice. We're at capacity, both cargo and personnel, and cannot open the main hatch without depressurising half the ship. Question, can your Hangar Bay temporarily accommodate a twenty-five by fifteen by seven point five metre vessel to allow cross-decking within a contained atmosphere?.... Blood Moon - Clear for reply."


TAG: Uriel Manteroni, Bravo, galactic-vagabond422, Laine_Snowtrekker, Sith-I-5

 

IC: Uriel Manteroni
Blood Moon Cockpit - Escorting Bantha-class ship Fluffy, near Draukyze System.
Thought; speech, action, NPC, PC.

Owen tells Uriel: "

"Ok, Grim."

Uriel do a link with the ship Owen and contact R: "R, here BM. You received the plan of maneuvers of JB, you must follow to the letter the commands. This is an order of their commander, Grim. If you want direct confirmation, I completed a communications link between you and Grim."

Evalynne says:

Hmmm ... at least someone else, like me, not following orders ...

TAG: @galactic-vagabond422, @Tim Battershell

 

IC: Commander Yavscout, N-1 starfighter, Tunare

Yav could see ahead, that the pirates had called in two of their fighters to help cover their retreat, with two reflections of light looping over the steadily escaping module.

"Safety, Scorch. I’m going to need you to cover me." Winterkill's voice announced, indicating that the other Merc was also seeing the development. "Two Toscans will be defending the module as I try to destroy it. We’ll be in each other’s firing range in seconds. Good hunting."

"Copy that." Yav acknowledged, trying to get his heads-up-display (HUD) targeting recticle to overlay one of the enemy fighters. "Scorch, you take the one on the right, I'll take the one on the left."

The elf fired a flurry of laser bolts at the left and higher Toscan, with it's bi-finned Y-Wing cockpit, and followed up with a single energy torpedo, only to see the fighter absorb his shots on its forward shields, and expertly jink to the left to avoid his torp'.

This did not unduly worry the elf, as Naboo energy torpedoes had the handy habit of turning and following its prey.

A pair of torpedoes flew past the N-1 on parallel streams of reddish light, into a near horizontal rain of lime-green laser blasts coming the other way from the right-most Toscan.

Winterkill's torps detonated brightly against the rear of the escape module, bouncing it along its course, but doing nothing to slow it down.

Yav glanced aside to see Winterkill's X-Wing barrel roll away from the enemy volley, then craned his neck to trace the twisting, roiling progression of two missile clusters flying over and between their starfighters from somewhere out of sight behind them, smacking the two Toscans head-on, several silent white and yellow explosions marking their demises.

"What the frag was that?" He asked.

That was Guardian 7. Callsign 'Edge'. Deputy supplied.

"Edge?" He echoed, "Where in Flamewind did she come from?!"

This is really Doctor Cooke's area, but I'll do my best. When two organics love-

The elf tried to duck as something dark loomed up out of the blackness and slammed solidly into the canopy, forcing the N-1 to nose down momentarily.

"What the feth was that?!" He gasped, twisting to see where the object had gone.

-each other very much-

"Shut up!" Yav snapped. "That wasn't a laser blast, something hit us."

Oh I see. There are things falling out the back of the escape ship.

A flailing purple space suit was barely visible as it loomed up before them, the elf twisting the control stick to avoid collecting it, and now he could see it, a trail of bodies trailing behind the escape ship. But not dead ones.

"But...but their shields are holding."

Deflectors aren't magcons. Deputy pointed out, and the elf realised what had happened.

Winterkill may have failed to destroy the vessel, but he had certainly breached the hull. And defense shields were not designed to keep atmo' and crew, inside.

"Well, we cannot shoot through this lot. Plot a course around them."

"All Guardian assets and CAP, hustle back to the Johnny Boy immediately. We have a new development. Blood Moon, you'll have to dock exterior as previous and air lock in. Fluffy, exterior dock as well. Reserve Flight, maintain escort. All Command Staff, Department Heads, and Pilots to the Mess Hall for brief and debrief. Johnny Boy clear."

Yav hesitated at the recall, and looked ahead to see five flashes of pseudo-motion as the module and the quartet of fighters jumped to lightspeed.

He wondered how long it would be able to stay in hyperspace for, with the damage Winterkill had caused.

Would the stresses tear the ship apart, or would the radiation from the ion engines poison the ship through the breached hull.

"Johnny Boy from Safety. Pirates away, but they took heavy damage, and are scattering overboard personnel from a hull breach. Complying with recall" The elf decelerated the Tunare, and pushed the control stick to the right to bank the craft to starboard, taking her in a wide arc back to the JB. "Scorch, Specter, Edge, from Safety. Let's go home."

Tag: greyjedi125, Heavy Isotope, Bardan_Jusik, Bravo

 

IC: Winterkill
A pause in the flow of combat

[“All Guardian assets and CAP, hustle back to the Johnny Boy immediately. We have a new development. Blood Moon, you'll have to dock exterior as previous and air lock in. Fluffy, exterior dock as well. Reserve Flight, maintain escort. All Command Staff, Department Heads, and Pilots to the Mess Hall for brief and debrief. Johnny Boy clear.”]

So he wasn’t dead. Not if he was hearing further orders from the JB.

Winterkill managed to get his starfighter under control once again and right his trajectory. There was no sign of the pirate escape module or any other enemy vessel for that matter.

“Ghast, what did I miss…?”

The astro-droid emitted a series of tweets and whistles that succinctly informed the nagai of the missed events.

“Edge got them? Good.” Winterkill said with some satisfaction.

"Thanks for the assist. Edge. More marks for you." He commed her, half-joking and half-congratulating her on her multiple kills.

But there was more.

“E.V. pirates? Still alive?”

[“Johnny Boy from Safety. Pirates away, but they took heavy damage, and are scattering overboard personnel from a hull breach. Complying with recall”]

Winterkill watched as the N-1 banked and began to make its way back to the JB.

[ "Scorch, Specter, Edge, from Safety. Let's go home.”]

The nagai paused for a moment. There was no mention of the floating pirates. True, he was by definition not a being who was filled with what others called ‘compassion’, but he knew very well what it was like to be at the mercy of cruel sentients. To him, leaving the extra vehicular pirates simply floating constituted as ‘cruelty’. It was better to grant them a swift death than to leave them thus. He viewed it as dishonorable.

“Blood Moon. I believe you wished to capture some pirates. There are some currently E.V. and floating in our vicinity, ripe for the picking. You can collect them on your way to the J.B. Copy?”

That was for Capt. Dodd. He did wondered if the Capt. Lasso was going to acknowledge or ignore the rules of engagement. He was pretty sure Taab Sr. would have left them, but he was not the Captain.

“Specter copies, Safety. Returning to base.”

Ghast had really done a great patch-up job on the X-wing, Winterkill noticed. He did a half-loop and straightened-out as he made his way back to the battered JB, joining Edge as her wing mate.

He wasn’t sure if he was still hungry or not, though he was starting to feel fatigue setting in now that the main battle was over and adrenalin was not pumping through his system like starship-sized hyper injectors.


Tag: @Tim Battershell, @Sith-I-5, @Bravo, @Heavy Isotope

 

IC: Terrel Vacks, Blood Moon Skipray


On hearing they would be boarding the Johnny Boy, Terrel had gathered up his armour from the cabin, and put it on. It would make it easier transferring it to his cabin aboard the corvette.

He headed through the operations area to the cockpit, as Uriel and Owen organised bringing their starships in, and settled into a chair beside Aidan, as the ex-Imperial transmitted a message to the JB:

"Johnny Boy - Actual, Blood Moon - Actual. Fluffy shows no sign of slowing or reversing course. Have you been in contact with her directly, as to reason? Will leave her to own devices if so ordered; but please be advised that if you want to tranship people or stores, she is by far the best choice. We're at capacity, both cargo and personnel, and cannot open the main hatch without depressurising half the ship. Question, can your Hangar Bay temporarily accommodate a twenty-five by fifteen by seven point five metre vessel to allow cross-decking within a contained atmosphere?.... Blood Moon - Clear for reply."

Terrel looked out the port at the bright ion engines of the Bantha that continued away. What were they up to?

"Aidan, that bit about not being able to open the main hatch without de-pressurising half the ship. How did Lieutenant Winterkill get out then?"

Talk of the Defel, the Nagai's voice came over the commo board.

“Blood Moon. I believe you wished to capture some pirates. There are some currently E.V. and floating in our vicinity, ripe for the picking. You can collect them on your way to the J.B. Copy?”

"Sounds like something more for the Fluffy." Terrel pointed out.

Tag: Tim Battershell

 

IC: Aidan Dodd
Blood Moon Cockpit - Escorting Bantha-class ship Fluffy, near Draukyze System.

Terrel rejoins me in the Cockpit, fully equipped as if for a desperate battle!

"Aidan, that bit about not being able to open the main hatch without de-pressurising half the ship. How did Lieutenant Winterkill get out then?"

I'm just about to reply when a familiar voice comes over the Comm;

"Blood Moon. I believe you wished to capture some pirates. There are some currently E.V. and floating in our vicinity, ripe for the picking. You can collect them on your way to the J.B. Copy?". This I answer first.

"Good Copy, Specter. Will scan for lifesigns when we get back there but I'm not hopeful there'll be any. The 'face-plate escape' is often more attractive than being worked to death on Kessel; and that's only when their would-be prey don't recover them just so they can be beaten up and blown out of an Airlock afterwards. More or less what Pirates do to almost all their captives. That's why nobody likes them!

The ones that knew anything important would have been in a vac-sealed area. They always are, and any computers or secretarial Droids they might have had went with the survivors. Snake, Clear."

With that taken care of, I turn back to Terrel;

"Either that young man has led a rather sheltered life, which I don't believe for a minute, or he's from somewhere that Pirates avoid.... because what's around there is worse than they are!

If we won't fit into the Johnny Boy, Terrel, we'll probably go out the same way he came in and went out by. Hope your armour's still vac-rated, if that's the case!

Seriously; there's an Emergency Hatch, complete with Airlock, at the far end of the Utility Corridor, where that second ladder is. I used it as a firing position when we extracted the Mercs from the Pirates' Hangar Bay. Trouble is, there's not much room inside and it's vertical to the deck. O.K. for bringing small, vac-resistant, stuff aboard but it'll be a right pain trying to unload her that way - even if some of it's done by Droid labour.

It'll have to wait until the J.B., and all other damaged ships, have been repaired, but I've got a list of improvements I'd like to have made to Blood Moon; and it's growing!"


TAG: greyjedi125, Bravo, Sith-I-5.

 

OOG: Last night, I mentioned in the Rocketjock 5 (it may turn into six) storyline arcs I plan on completing between the end of the chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2. This is Storyline arc One.

Jim Palso's current predicament can be detailed in from Imperial Agent Thomas Ford's posts from Jun 1, 2014 at 6:09 PM and Jun 4, 2014 at 11:01 PM.

---

IC: Jim Palso @ Murgo Choke Part 1
Cockpit, Hunk of Junk, leaving Burska


"I don't want to hear it!" Palso grinned his teeth as he steered the customized Corellian freighter away from a incoming turbolaser blast that would of cooked them like Nerf Steak.

"You don't want to hear it?" Walking Library, a multicolored (brown, color, tan) 3PO-series Protocol Droid cried from the co-pilot seat, "I told you that the Empire was out in strength at Burska, but NOOOOOO, you just had to come look for yourself! We're going to die!"

"The only dying is going to be you!" Palso barked at the droid as he put the Hunk of Hunk into a reverted nose dive to port as two TIE Fighters came screaming right at them, lasers blasting, from the EF76 Escort frigate up ahead, "If you don't get your golden arse into that top side turret!"

"Unspeakable lack of intelligence!" Library said as he unstrapped himself and stalked out of the cockpit, "Come on Bugger, we have to save the Captain's butt again," the R2-series Astromech droid blurted something in response as the two droids exited the cockpit and Library cried, "What do you mean I need to shut up!? I am merely pointing out the lack of---"

The door to the cockpit closed before Palso could hear the end of the two droids' conversation.

Palso had to due some more fancy maneuvering as Burska grew more and more distance in the background; while the recent Rago Run Squadron was securing Rago Run from a rash of recent pirate attacks the last few months, the "end of the line" of that massive anti-piracy campaign ended with Burska and a listening post intent on monitoring the more distant Murgo Choke and the boarding Unknown Regions. The Empire wasn't stupid: as soon as the Rago Run Squadron showed up to secure the area after the initial Imperial clean-up operation of the area, the pirates had disappeared. While other Imperial patrol vessels and bases were in the area, Rago Run Squadron was tasked with specific anti-piracy goals, which made it the Roman Legion to the area in terms of pirates. Where had the pirates gone? Everyone pointed to the Murgo Choke. The fact of the matter was that the Empire was keeping a very tight lid on things, especially after the mysterious disappearance of the Burska listening post. Palso had wanted to see that for himself, but the Empire had dispatched from the Core Worlds directly three Victory II-class Star Destroyers, three EF76 Nebulon-B Escort Frigates, six Corellian Gunships, two Imperial II-class Frigates and two Vigil-class Corvettes (each in escort of the following two ships), one Immobilizer 418 cruiser, and a Acclamator I-class Assault Ship to look into the disappearance, only to loose the 17th Battalion of Snowtroopers to enemy action during a freak and unexpected snow blizzard that covered a huge swath of the planet. When the blizzard had lifted, the entire Battalion was gone. Designed as a cold climate assault force, regards to the natural environment were immediately dismissed, despite the power of the storm, which was off the charts. While the Empire concluded several troopers could of died due to nature-based means, not an entire battalion. When rescue parties finally reached the surface, traces of a battle could be found among the remains of the Battalion. The findings were clear: the 17th Battalion had been surrounded, ambushed, and destroyed in the midst of a freak blizzard that lasted for over two hours. Other "remains," that not of Snowtroopers, had also been found and could explain the existence of a Trident-class Survey Ship that had arrived several days later from Coruscant itself.

In any event, Burska had been quarantined off to the public several days ago. Palso, in good show of support of breaking Imperial Law, had to find out why. More so if anything, how Burska connected to the Rago Run and the Murgo Choke and the sudden reason why his smuggler brothers had been scared into hiding by pirates in the Rago Run. Why, in the Force's good galaxy, would smugglers be scared to the point of hiding from pirates?

For the timing being, however, Palso had to focus on escaping, which oddly enough wasn't too hard, as the quads opened up and rattled the ship's deck as the droids took up their gunnery positions. One EF76 Escort frigate chased him from Burska, another EF76 was coming head-on, and in between both a swarm of TIE Fighters were trying to disable him. The fact that the Imperials were trying to disable his craft and capture him, verses destroy him, gave Palso the upper hand he needed. Because of their lack of ion cannons, the EF76s had to rely on their turbolaser fire to bracket Palso and Company into a kill zone, in which the TIEs would finish the job of disabling Palso's craft.

The problem with their plan was simple: he was Captain Jim Palso.

All too soon Palso was free and was pulling back the hyperspace levers.

"Where are we going, Captain?" Library's voice came over the comm system from the upper quad laser turret.

Jim spoke into his head-set, "Rago. I want to see why the Empire isn't leading a military campaign down the Murgo Choke. The Empire knows that's where the pirates are hiding. And I want to know why. And I also need some answers. Our stop over at Ansion showed some very scared smugglers. Their stories weren't all that different then the ones we heard on Tatoooine. And if news of Rago Run is reaching Tatooine smugglers that quick---and I know how Spacers talk---and smugglers are refusing to take runs down the Murgo Choke, I need to find out why."

"Can't we leave this to the authorities?" Library pleaded.

"No," Palso said, his eyes focusing with anger, "Not when it comes to my fellow smugglers."


TBC

 

IC: Lord Nelf (Yavinelf), Surgeon-Commander Debgate, Wick's Cafe, Tropical Island "Isla"
Location: Craci Prime


Nelf leaned his elbows on the large block of white stone on the staircase wall overlooking the choppy blue waters, cast his olive-tinged face up to let the powerful yellow sun warm his visage, and get his daily Vitamin Dorn.

Several metres away, swimsuited tourists and holiday-makers lined up to cliff-dive into the afore-mentioned waters, while to his left, clad in a tight white swimsuit with a garishly-coloured towel around her hips, the statuesque Barbarian femme, Debgate, towered over both him, and most of the standard humans present.

"I cannot believe I found you, Deb'." The half-elf repeated for the umpteenth time since encountering her the previous day.

While, like her, he originated from the extra-dimensional world of Norrath, for many years now, he had been an Inquisitor in the service of the Emperor. Emperor Palpatine.

Holonet footage of a jedi tossing landspeeders into the sides of the towering Craci Regional General Medical and Surgical Center, had brought him to this world that straddled the borders of the Empire and the Corporate Sector, and his Venator-class Star Destroyer, the Admiral Thrawn was in orbit now, along with the dozens of ships of Hillick Soal's blockade.

"Took you long enough." Deb' retorted.

This was a slight aimed at his failure to catch up with her, even though he had been a member of a Republic intelligence agency during the last days of the Republic, and the Inquisitorious, since then.

"Well, I'm here now."

Deb allowed the sun's warmth to play across her pale white shoulders - she spent a lot of time aboard her star destroyer - and watched the next person to leap off the rock outcropping, hug their knees, and plummet towards the waters. "That doesn't seem wise," she noted, her gaze following the man's acceleration.

A light breeze whipped her yellow hair about her face, as the man hitting the water threw up an impressive spume of white froth, and created circular patterns on the water.

"All we need to do now, is find Yavscout." Nelf smiled. Now that he had found her, the task did not seem so insurmountable. "And then we'll be complete."

"RESCUE!" The Barbarian straightened off the wall and slap-slapped her flip-flops down the stone steps, with her arms up and out to provide some kind of balance.

"Don't run!" He cautioned her, making no move to vacate his spot. With her disappearance, his thoughts moved to work matters.

This General Pre-eminent Hillick Soal had the Emperor's ear - not physically, of course - would he be allowed to interview the man.

Nelf was burning to ask him, how the feth a jedi had gotten off the planet and through his blockade, because he wasn't here anymore.

The Inquisitor was certain of that.

Tag: no-one

OOC: Location based on Rick's Cafe in Negril, Jamaica.

---

IC: Commander Yavscout, Deputy the Astromech, N-1 starfighter, the Tunare


The elf was relieved to make it out of thought range of the floating extra-vehicular pirates without receiving any requests for help.

He was getting better at not stopping to rescue the enemy, but he could do without the guilt that would surely have come with a telepathically intercepted shout for assistance and succor.

The welcoming bulk of the Johnny Boy loomed large before him as he took the N-1 under the Marauder-class corvette, and rose up through the brightly lit belly aperture, seeing the heavy security presence augmenting Ler's usual team of hangar personnel.

Flashing lettering scrolling across the droid translation screen caught the elf's eye.

What the frag happened here?

"Dep'?"

Look up.

The elf did so, and gawped at the hole smashed through the hangar ceiling. "Sweet frag!"

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Yav realised that he could hear the droid's whistles and bleeps now that he was inside an atmosphere, and leaned back in the chair as hangar tractors moved his craft to an empty spot on the deck, turning it around to face the front.

He comlinked a message to the Bridge. "Safety here. I am aboard, and will be making my way to the briefing room. Safety out."

The elf released his restraints and stood up in the cockpit as soon as the canopy opened for him. He turned to face Deputy's dome behind him. "Stay here. Make sure the crew replenish the fuel and torps, please."

The spindly grey LE-Repair droid that was the Lead Hangar Tech round here turned a baleful red photoreceptor on the crew of the Tunare.

"No jokes about the ceiling from either of you. Any attempts to be funny, and your ship goes to the back of the queue. Try us."

The elf wiped the smile off his face and decided not to test the droid.

Tag: Bridge, hangar crew

 

OOC: Permission to handle the pirate boarding team in the past tense given by Bravo.

IC: Beskaryc Taab/Atin Taab
Johnny Boy/X-Wing, Guardian Two

From the outer hull of the Johnny Boy, secured to it through the magnetic boots they had both donned, Taab and Totter watched as Yav's black N-1 preceded them into the bay by a good sixty seconds. They had been so busy with their own EVA that they hadn't the time to take note of what else had been going on out there. The fighter past them and the area clear, Taab whirled an index finger in a circle before pointing to the hanger bay doors. With their job outside done (and the danger of getting run over by the fighter gone) it was time to head back inside.

To Totter it came as a welcome relief, his vacsuit had been nicked up pretty good, and he was leaking atmo, though the leakage rate was well within safety limits for their short duration walk. Still he couldn't wait to be back inside the ship, and breathing air from a life support system that wasn't leaking into space. Taab's armor had seen better days itself. A large smudge of carbon scoring indicated where his chestplate had taken a direct hit from the last pirate's blaster. Missing too was another rocket from his wrist launcher as well as the jetpack mounted warhead that normally towered above (and behind) his head.

As soon as they were confirmed through the magnetic shields that kept the hanger's atmosphere inside Totter ripped off the vac suit's encapsulated helmet and let it bounce off the deck. "Never again!" he screamed. It had been his first chance to talk to Taab since their ambush of the pirates had knocked out the vac-suit's comm system in addition to the other damage it had taken.

Taab laughed, lugging the rotary cannon back to the Speedy Trial. Totter had gone EVA with it, but after the attack (and subsequent surprise of three instead of two pirates to face down) Taab had taken the weapon, mostly so Totter didn't have the added temptation to shoot the Merc's security chief with it. "It wasn't that bad. You got to expand your horizons and we negated three tangos."

"Not that bad!" Totter screamed, yeah he was a bit worked up now. "Not that bad? You used me as bait to draw them out and I nearly got killed by the third one." Taab chuckled. Upon realizing that the pirates were trapped behind a bulkhead, Taab had considered just sealing them in there, to die of lack of oxygen once their life support ran out. But he didn't know if they had any explosives with them. While such an explosion would have killed the boarders, if they felt they were going to die anyway they may have not minded being a little suicidal. Taab didn't want to cause any more damage to the ship than had already been done, and so they had to be rooted out of their hidey hole, and that meant hunting over live bait. In this case Totter.

Naturally things hadn't gone entirely according to plan, the existence of the last pirate, the one in that laughable pink armor, had come as a most unpleasant surprise. She had been a firebrand and was the one to strike Taab after she had nearly taken out Totter before being immolated by the jetpack mounted guided rocket that Taab would now have to replace. He shook his head, did no one realize how expensive the shabla things were? Of course not, they just worried about how "close to death they had been." Aruetii (foreign) savages.

"I was told there were only two, someone either needs to get their eyes checked or learn to count." Taab shrugged. "Besides, you had the cannon."

"Which I didn't know how to use properly!"

"You didn't need to know, you were just bait," Taab retorted, leaving out the fact that Totter had actually killed the first pirate they had encountered with the rapid fire heavy blaster. He climbed back up into the Speedy Trial to switch back to his beskar boots, stow the Z-6 and replenish his expended weapons from the Trial's armory. Given how often he seemed to be needing it lately, he knew it was time to add magnetic capability to his standard footwear, despite the added weight and additional complexity. He would set to work on that as soon as he had rearmed and there were no further crises to respond to.

Outside the Speedy Trial, Totter watched Taab disappear into the small ship and just rolled his eyes. "I need a drink."

TAG: Sith-I-5, Other deck crew

---

Guardian Two

Seeing his father and Ace re-enter the ship, Atin pulled away from the Johnny Boy. He had been re-tasked to cover their six when they had emerged from the ship and so had missed the fun and excitement that the CAP had been lucky enough to experience. He had been glad to keep his father safe from any interference, but not just a little upset at missing out elsewhere. The price he paid for being a good son he supposed. "This is Scorch to JB control. Back on station, where do you need me?"

TAG: Bravo, CAP

 

IC: Jason Lasso
Bridge, Johnny Boy


"Johnny Boy - Actual, Blood Moon - Actual. Fluffy shows no sign of slowing or reversing course. Have you been in contact with her directly, as to reason? Will leave her to own devices if so ordered; but please be advised that if you want to tranship people or stores, she is by far the best choice. We're at capacity, both cargo and personnel, and cannot open the main hatch without depressurising half the ship. Question, can your Hangar Bay temporarily accommodate a twenty-five by fifteen by seven point five metre vessel to allow cross-decking within a contained atmosphere?.... Blood Moon - Clear for reply."

Lasso had remembered the Fluffy comming in something about having to chase down the rogue projectiles; the Captain didn't feel the need to respond, more so for the fact that the crew of the Fluffy seemed rather intent on chasing down those HV projectiles with or without the Johnny Boy's approval.

"Johnny Boy to Blood Moon. Fluffy is on special assignment. Continue onwards to boarding. JB clear of comms."


"Safety here. I am aboard, and will be making my way to the briefing room. Safety out."

"Copy, Safety. Welcome home," Lasso said, then looked over to Wa Yay, "You have the bridge. I need to change out of this armored vac suit before I go crazy."

And Lasso needed to get to the briefing room before Yav did to retrieve his clothes. It wouldn't be proper for the Commander to see the Captain with his pants down around his ankles. It would make for one of those awkward moments.

Wa Yay nodded, "Yes, Captain," and proceeded up to the Commander's chair while Lasso took his leave, first to the briefing room to get his clothes, then to his Captain's Ready Room. All without the Commander seeing him carrying a bundle of clothes----granted a white sock dropped from his load and he had to pick it up half through his short journey back to his ready room. Once inside the privacy of his own Ready Room, Lasso made sure to fresh'n up a little bit with some Old Spice Spray from the Core Worlds; the stuff did wonders and after being sealed up in a vac suit, the good ole fashion Old Spice was about the only thing short of a full on shower that would eliminate the body odor of being sealed up inside of a armored vack suit sweating for over an hour. After freshn' up, the Captain put on his "everyday clothing" (see character sheet) and proceeded out of his Ready Room. It was there that the Captain ran into the Commander as the Elf entered the Briefing Room.

"Commander," Lasso said, nodding and stopping for a brief moment, "I'm going to head down to the hanger to meet these new Blood Moon arrivals. I didn't correct you over the comm traffic, but we're headed to the mess hall for the debrief. All of the Command Staff, Department Heads, and Pilots. We have a lot to discuss and go over, but not enough space here in the briefing room. If you wouldn't mind," Lasso handed Yav a data-pad, "Can you find a useable astromech and plug this data into it for holograpic display in the mess hall? It has all the battle data, all the way up until Chief Williams---" Lasso stopped himself, remembering Yav would not of been privy to that conversation, "---ah, well, up until a now rescue mission over to the remains of that pirate ship. Just try not to use any words relating to father, mother, brother, sister, death, long lost, lie, or anything else related to those. They all relate to Chief Engineer Williams' current family predicament. Its all on the data-pad," Lasso started to leave, then turned around and said as the door to the bridge opened, "Its good to have you back, Commander. That mission was a hard one. For a moment there, I was afraid we'd lost most of the command staff. But luckily, we didn't. Force, were we lucky! And I take full blame for the mishap on that hanger boarding. I acted too quickly and you all almost paid the price for it. i thought, for a moment, we were invisible. I can't allow that to ever happen again as a Captain."

With as much grace as he could muster after admitting a horrible command decision, the mercenary Captain made his way to the hanger bay to await the arrival of the Blood Moon and these new pilots. On his way there, Lasso ran into both Taab and a terribly vortexed Totter. Lasso recanted the same apology he said to Yav to Taab and Totter.

After the Captain left for deeper parts of the hanger, Totter looked at Taab, "What? I'm not command staff, so I don't get an apology for almost losing my life? For Force Sake, this is why I drink! No gratitude for almost dying, least among the facts that I was used as bait by you! Screw a drink, I need a six pack!"


TAG Sith-I-5, Bardan_Jusik, Blood Moon

 

IC: Aidan Dodd
Blood Moon Cockpit - Escorting Bantha-class ship Fluffy, near Draukyze System.

"Johnny Boy to Blood Moon. Fluffy is on special assignment. Continue onwards to boarding. JB clear of comms."

I double-click the Comm by way of acknowledgement then instuct 'Passepartout' to pull Blood Moon out of her 'dive', and reverse course back to the vicinity of the Johnny Boy. On the way, we can scan the TFOS pirates (in this case, 'Things fallen out of spacecraft'!) to see if any are still alive.

"Attention everyone." I call back into the Cabin; "Johnny Boy has released us from following the Fluffy. We're on our way back."

What I've just said to Terrel is quite true, I certainly do want to have modifications done to the ship. Most important is to have a three-way selector switch installed on my console so the trigger for the ship's main armament only fires what is needed at the time. I'll be keeping the option of firing the Ion Cannons and Turbolaser together, though, combining them seems to have possibilities where extra firepower is required.

The next most important change I'd like to explore is having a MagCon Shield fitted into Blood Moon's main hatch. Had any of us needed to disembark in the Pirate ship's hangar we'd have had to move Evalynne into the Cockpit, the 'fresher or the bunkroom for the duration; those compartments can all be sealed against vacuum. Not too convenient - and possibly why the ship's late owner settled on a Droid crew for the Control-stations in the Cabin.

Then there's the bunkroom itself. My thinking is that if the bunks were to be replaced with hammocks, there'd be a lot more space for cargo or personnel, at least for short trips. For myself, I've never used the bunks; I prefer to spend my sleep time in the Pilot's chair. It's plenty comfortable enough and I'm right there if a Captain's decision is needed.

Terrel's suggestion of groundbuzzers would indeed give us an extra capability, trouble is I don't have a clue where it/they could be fitted. The penalty of Skiprays being narrow-hulled and, particularly in Blood Moon's case, having so much in the way of weaponry installed in the lower hull already.

I'll take the decision on where, and how, to dock with the Johnny Boy when we get back there. I could do with stretching my legs, most probably the others could as well. Meanwhile, I've got a Deece to clean.


TAG: Uriel Manteroni, galactic-vagabond422, Laine_Snowtrekker and Sith-I-5, Bravo (both for Vacks).

 

OOG: For sake of time (and several pending storyline posts), I'm using my GM Hat thingy to move us along a bit quicker.

---

IC: Terrel Vacks
Blood Moon


If we won't fit into the Johnny Boy, Terrel, we'll probably go out the same way he came in and went out by. Hope your armour's still vac-rated, if that's the case!
Seriously; there's an Emergency Hatch, complete with Airlock, at the far end of the Utility Corridor, where that second ladder is. I used it as a firing position when we extracted the Mercs from the Pirates' Hangar Bay. Trouble is, there's not much room inside and it's vertical to the deck. O.K. for bringing small, vac-resistant, stuff aboard but it'll be a right pain trying to unload her that way - even if some of it's done by Droid labour.
It'll have to wait until the J.B., and all other damaged ships, have been repaired, but I've got a list of improvements I'd like to have made to Blood Moon; and it's growing!"

"We won't fit," Vacks said, "But we can air lock in, under the hanger to aft. It's a short enough walk to not have to worry about anything. In fact, your proximity alarms will start going off, we'll be so close. Either way," Terrel fixed his helmet on, "Its good to be home again."

"Johnny Boy to Blood Moon. Fluffy is on special assignment. Continue onwards to boarding. JB clear of comms."

"Attention everyone." I call back into the Cabin; "Johnny Boy has released us from following the Fluffy. We're on our way back."

Vacks held onto the back of Aidan's seat as he brought the Blood Moon around, the Fluffy becoming a distant memory, and the Johnny Boy replacing her in the Blood Moon's front view.

"Under the ship, slow her down, and you see," Vacks pointed, his zoom on his helmet coming in handy now, "There, they're extending the air lock now. Be gentle, its never been used. We don't want to damage it yet."

---

IC: Jason Lasso
Hanger Bay, Johnny Boy


Lasso waited at the air lock with his hands behind his back and his legs shoulder width apart, two B1 Battle Droids standing sentry to either side---it was the only security the ship could afford at the moment. But security was security. As Lasso watched the air lock revert back up and the hatch pop open from the floor, showing a ladder that extended down to the Blood Moon, Jason's thoughts kept going back to the encrypted communication he had in his Ready Room while getting changed into his current clothing attire...

---

IC: Terrel Vacks
Hanger Bay, Johnny Boy


Terrel was the first up the ladder and out onto the Johnny Boy, where he took off his helmet and exchanged a respectful nod with Lasso before taking a step back and watching as the others climbed out.

Everyone got out and stood in a rough straight line as a hanger droid closed the air lock door and the air lock sank back into the hanger floor. Lasso waited a long moment of silence as he sized up the group, "Mr. Vacks," Lasso finally said, "Care to enlighten me?"

"Yes, sir," Vacks said, stepping out from behind the group and stood off to the side, pointing down the line from closet to furthest, "New recruits, Captain. Aidan Dodd, ex-black ops, sniper and fair pilot, looking for new employment opportunities. Next, Owen Byrne, heavy weapons and hand-to-hand specialist, freelance mercenary beforehand. Here, we have Evalynne Smith, stealth and swoop specialist, civilian life beforehand. Finally, we have Uriel Manteroni, starfighter pilot with capital ship experience; not a bad choice at mechanic work and martial arts, either. Extensive Grand Republic military background, outlaw since."

Lasso didn't say a word for another long moment, then took a breath in and said, "I'm Captain Jason Lasso, leader of the mercenary group known as the Mercs. Your on my boat, so respect the rules and live. Break the rules, and the coldness of space can be a lonely place for a long time. My number one rule, NO WEAPONS allowed on ship, unless authorized by me. Everything is locked up in the armory. For now, i'll let you remain armed, but onlty because we're still at battle conditions. After that, our Security Chief will come asking for your weapons to tag 'em, log 'em, and lock 'em up. We're mercenaries, outlaws, scum of the universe. But on this ship, we're family. You back-stab one of us, you back-stab all of us. We hate the Galactic Empire and usually shoot first, ask questions later when it comes to Imperials, and we have our differences with the Rebel Alliance, but tolerate the Pinko Commie Liberal Space Muffins best we can. You do your job and survive each contract, you get paid when the contract is done. You get shot dead, well, you won't be needing that money and we usually use it as an excuse to celebrate a little longer in honor of your name. I don't care what you do, how you do it, or who you do it to. But two things will be crystal clear when aboard my ship: first, when the blaster bolts start flying or your on shift, your arse is sober and second, your pants are not around your ankles. There will be enough time for both of those activities after the fighting is done. I don't have time to hold your hands, hug and kiss, so let me make this clear if it already hasn't been from outside appearances. We're in a world of sith and we all look and feel like hammered dog ****," Lasso reached out and grabbed a passing crew member, "This is Mr. Biggs, our cook. He'll show you to your quarters. All of you will be dual trained as pilots, so you'll get the better pilot quarters. After Biggs show you around, you will be expected in the Mess Hall in thirty minutes for a ship-wide meeting. I would recommend you get some food from the Mess before it gets crowded in there. Once in the Mess, I'll get to know you better. But for now, there's things to do. So get to them. Mr. Vacks, your security with these new nuggets until I can trust them further then I can spit," Lasso turned and started to leave, then stopped and looked back to the group of newbies, "Oh, and welcome aboard the Johnny Boy."

"Aye," Biggs said, "The Cap' be in a mood, that be for sure. Aye, I'm Biggs, former pirate and now cook. I guess I be----"

"MOVE IT!" Ler barked, a hover sled full of scrapped equipment behind him, "Get working or get out of my hanger!"

"That," Biggs said, motioning for the group to follow, "Is our Lead Hanger Tech, Ler. He's always...cranky."

"Sithing organics," it could be heard from Ler as he continued on deeper into the hanger.

Biggs lead the group to the first bank of turbolifts bow of the ship, where a body bag of Frank's former teammate was still there, the remains of a B1 Battle Droid, and another B1 Battle Droid standing guard. Beyond the battle droid, several droids and organics were cleaning up the mess from the "endgame" battle between Frank and several security officers in the crew cabins bow side just beyond the turbolift lobby.

"Halt," the B1 Battle Droid said, "This area is off-limits!"

"Everything is off-limits in the whole ship!" Biggs replied back, "I have some new recruits. I'm showing them to their new cabins."

"Ahh," the Battle Droid looked back to the mess in the rear, "Give us a few more minutes. We're still cleaning up. The new walls are being put up now and security's investigations is almost done and removing the yellow tape and white body outlines now off of the floor."

"Move," Biggs said, "Now. Captain's orders, droid."

"Captain's Orders?! Er, wait, computing!" the droid put a finger to his head as if to think, then said after a moment, "You are clear to proceed! But watch your step!" The droid stood aside, near the body-bag.

Biggs looked back, "Sorry about the mess in there. The droids will have it fixed in no time. Between pirate boardings and cyborgs, its been one heck of a afternoon."

Biggs walked them into the third level crew cabins, reserved for Senior Crew, Department Heads, Officers, and Pilots. The placed was large, but here everyone at least had their own room with security door, bunk (and footlocker), separate closet, mini cold box for drinks, their own toilet (there was a public shower roughly in the middle front of all of the grouped cabins), and desk with chair. It was small, but cozy. Better then what some of the crew had, where they were sharing 6 bunks (with footlockers) to a room with a shared common large table with chairs in the room and toilets and showers in public settings outside the quarters. Granted, the Command Staff had it made with not only all the privacy of the Pilots and Officers, but also had their own living rooms and mini kitchens. But also, command came with their own stress as well, so the luxury was a balancing act.

The Officers and Department Heads had the best positioned quarters, with viewports to outer space, while the Senior Crew had the furthest ones, closet to the Cargo Bay and hence away from all the noise and motion of a hanger bay. The Pilots were given the short end of the stick, but out of necessity, with their cabins closet to the hanger bay and facing it. Granted, the blast door separating the crew quarters from the turbolift bay was a added sound barrier, nonetheless, a busy and non-stop hanger bay was just beyond that blast door.

Various plants, flowers, benches, and tables and chairs and benches decorated the outside carpeted area leading to the cargo bay and to the hanger bay outside of the cabins (a course everything was bolted down in case of the loss of gravity). Pictures of outer space, various planets, and a few viewports permitted a more homely feeling beyond just tables, chairs, and benches.

Biggs got done showing them around, the cleaning crew leaving as did the security detail's investigation team (Frank's body bag was then removed too as they all left). Briggs brought them to the double doored, reinforced blast doors leading two the cargo bay where two B1 Battle Droids stood silent sentry around the clock. Biggs tapped on the door, "These cargo bay doors are security locked at all times. Its our life line for supplies. No has the code except for security and a handful of Department Heads, Officers, and Command Staff. Best not go asking for access in here unless you want security asking ya questions. Now," Biggs said, "I handed each of ya a data-pad and comlink. Don't loose them. The data-pads will give you updates on the ship, the roster, and anything else, The comlinks, well, that goes without saying. If you ever loose your cabin security code, security has a list of everything, down to your mother's cousin's middle name. So just ask them. Any questions about your new cabins before you drop your gear and follow me to the Mess Hall?"


TAG Uriel Manteroni, Laine_Snowtrekker, galactic-vagabond422, Tim Battershell

 

IC: Owen Byrne
On board the Skipray, Draukyze System

"Attention everyone." Aiden called back into the Cabin; "Johnny Boy has released us from following the Fluffy. We're on our way back." Owen relaxed just a bit, this time it felt like the mission was really done. He looked around the cabin with the slightest bit of nostalgia, he had only been on board for a few hours but, his life had turned 180 degrees since he stepped on its deck. On Algor he was alone, with only pirates to watch his back. He’d done a terrible thing; to him it was something unforgivable. In a small way he became the men from his squad, a ruthless killer. He looked back over his shoulder at Evalynne, if he had started a lightfight instead of killing Creksozok, would she still be alive. In the end that was his choice, he chose to protect the group instead of the one.

He turned the turret to the Johnny Boy, the corvette growing larger on his screen. It reminded him he had a team now, a team he could trust. Well at least Evalynne and Aiden, Uriel was another matter. The older man could be competent when he wanted to be but, was usually giving a lecture or worried about his own problems especially that map. Part of Owen wonder if he’d ever see the inside of this ship, the Blood Moon, again, or work with this team again. They worked well under pressure and had a good balance of skills, could be a powerful asset to the Mercs. Another change the soldier noticed, he hadn’t heard ‘Sir’s’ voice since after the shootout in the bank. It was the first time his head had been quiet in a long time, but, downtime was coming, time to unwind, time to think, time he didn’t want. He needed something to keep his mind occupied be that combat, cleaning his weapon, or exercising. What scared him more was sleeping, some nights were better than others but, the nightmares still plague him, his punishment for standing by and doing nothing while innocents burned.

The ship docked and Owen followed the crew out on to the hangar deck. He found himself standing between Aiden and Evalynne. In front of him was a person standing in parade rest, with two battle droids at his side.

"Mr. Vacks," the man said breaking the silence, "Care to enlighten me?" Owen removed his helmet and stood at attention. This felt more like an inspection than an introduction. Vacks started with Aiden then moved to the soldier. Owen saluted at the mention of his name and held it until Evalynne’s name was called. With the new recruits introduced the man spoke again. “I'm Captain Jason Lasso, leader of the mercenary group known as the Mercs.” The man’s voice carried weight when he spoke he was in command no one else.

The Captain gave a rundown of how things work and this ship and Owen could agree with most of them but, the one that irked him was the no weapons policy. He understood why it was necessary but, he had found his weapons, restored them with his own hands, knew every part and piece and could dismantle and clean them blind folded. He couldn’t trust another person with his blasters they were too personal. His weapons and R were the only things he trusted for the longest time and, now they were going to be someone else’s. The thought of someone else handling his Z-6 made him sick. It was just an object but, it was his, it had saved his life on many occasions. Then it got worse, Lasso pulled a crew member, the cook, aside and directed him to show them to their quarters, offhandedly stating that they would train as pilots. Owen swallowed hard, that would be impossible for him. He couldn’t even handle EVA for more than a few minutes; he’d be useless in a dog fight. The Captain didn’t leave anytime for questions before the group was following the cook to their quarters. They past a body bag and another battle droid, a sign of the action they’d seen.

The Pilot cabins were very nice but a private room in and of itself, no matter the size, was better than his Stromtrooper barracks, and the actual bunk made it a thousand times better than the Anvil’s cockpit were he had spent many a night. Their guide brought them to a set of blast doors.

"These cargo bay doors are security locked at all times. It’s our life line for supplies. No has the code except for security and a handful of Department Heads, Officers, and Command Staff. Best not go asking for access in here unless you want security asking ya questions. Now," he said, "I handed each of ya a data-pad and comlink. Don't lose them. The data-pads will give you updates on the ship, the roster, and anything else, the comlinks, well, that goes without saying. If you ever lose your cabin security code, security has a list of everything, down to your mother's cousin's middle name. So just ask them. Any questions about your new cabins before you drop your gear and follow me to the Mess Hall?"

“Sir,” Owen said “I have a question not about the cabins.” He paused for a moment “Who do I talk to about getting things from my Y-wing? Everything I own besides what I’m wearing now is on that thing. I’d like to know when I can get them back.”

TAG: Bravo Tim Battershell Laine_Snowtrekker Uriel Manteroni

 

IC: Uriel Manteroni
Hanger Bay, Johnny Boy
Thought; speech, action, NPC, PC.

Uriel and the entire crew of BM embarks on JB for the hangar. Uriel see droids working and some people waiting for them. A man with an air of authority comes forward and says:

Vacks then says,

Capital ship experience?!?! Wow, I could teach them to command a Capital Ship !! Obviously they do not know who you're talking about ...

The commander of JB is a lecture and ends saying ...

So, Mr. Biggs leads them to the cabins and explains many things.

On the way Uriel realizes that JB was well conducted. Because it had organized, clean and operational. Uriel had much experience in warships survey. After all I did this very much times.

Little touches showed the personality of the captain: A non-critical system malfunction, such as a "windbreaker" among the sectors that made noise, dust in places little seen, as an access system of automatic fire extinguishers, scratches on the walls, glasses with fingerprints, not to mention how messy the corners. All these signs seem mediocrities, and frills, but for an experienced commander, if these little details are well, certainly the important things will be better. Throughout the quick observation that Uriel had made on the way to the cabins, there were clear indications that JB was perfect and had a template commander.

Uriel definitely would like to have a conversation of captain to captain with Lasso. Lasso may have something interesting to tell me ... the decades that I do not find a real captain to talk ..


When Biggs terminate your explains says: ...

Uriel was going to ask about the food and about your ship, when Owen speaks first:.

Uriel reinforces: "I have the same question."

TAG: @Bravo, @Tim Battershell, @Laine_Snowtrekker, @galactic-vagabond422, @Sith-I-5

 

IC: Aidan Dodd
Aboard the Johnny Boy.

Finally I'm with the Mercs! After cleaning my Deece, I'd taken the opportunity to put pair of a packs together while 'Passepartout' dealt with the routine business of flying the ship; one holding clothing and sundries, the other my weapons - all except my Verps and that deceptive stylus. I'd also extracted a certain Binka-fruit-sized pouch from its hidey-hole and put it into one of my belt's Utility Pouches. With 'Big Verp', I'll need quite a lot of Range-time to get it dialled-in just right (I can't rely on it until then) and a Corvette just hasn't got enough length for my needs; so it will stay aboard. The stylus I keep with me, along with 'Baby Verp' as my belt weapon. 'Passepartout' will also be staying aboard Blood Moon, I doubt the Mercs will want a Droid with his capabilities running around unsupervised - even if the pace generated by his very low-powered repulsors is more of a crawl than a run!

We dock and climb a ladder up into the ship's Hangar Bay. First thing I notice is a large hole in the deckhead - obvious evidence of the recent battle - the second a pair of B1s flanking a brown haired Human of about my height and my approximate age - maybe a few years younger. Terrel describes my background simply as 'black-ops, sniper and fair pilot' (nice of him; but simple 'black-ops' is only the starting point for what Players in the Shadow Game actually do) then moves on to naming and describing Owen, Evalynne and Uriel in turn.

Next, the escorted Human introduces himself as Jason Lasso, Leader of the Mercs and this ship's Captain and embarks on a Captain's Address, which is more like a harangue! In fact, the speech seems more calculated to discourage potential recruits from 'signing on the dotted' than the opposite.

I can't help wondering how Uriel will be taking this, particularly the 'No Weapons' ruling; and also the need to pay attention to and obey orders. Provided I don't get cut off from the Armoury when personal weapons are needed - always a possibility as 'Securing the Armoury' is a major objective for any boarding party - and get regular opportunities to clean mine (and, most importantly, calibrate my Deece) I can live with that.

As the ship's cook, a Mr Biggs, is instructed to take us on the next part of our orientation tour, more evidence of combat moves past us on a hover-sled, accompanied by an LE Series Droid. One with an attitude that makes me glad that 'Passepartout' is safely back on Blood Moon. He just loves 'adjusting' those sort of attitudes if they're aimed in my direction - but those he 'adjusts' don't seem to enjoy the process at all. Well, same can be said about the people I've 'adjusted' too!

We pass more battle-wrack, including a filled body-bag. A former Merc who the Fates weren't kind to, probably; and are shown the doors to the cargo bay. My only interest in what's inside comes under the heading of increasing it with what's loaded aboard Blood Moon. Best chance is to find out who the 'Ship's Loggie' (Logistics Officer) is and tell that Being.


TAG: Uriel Manteroni, galactic-vagabond422, Laine_Snowtrekker and Sith-I-5, Bravo (both for Vacks).

 

IC: Evalynne Smith
Aboard the Johnny Boy

Well, this was just going to be a day for firsts, wasn't it.

Climbing up the airlock's ladder wasn't hard, but it was still a little nerve-wracking, considering that none of her gear provided protection from vacuum. That would be something to rectify at some point.

Then Vacks--probably the one person from the Blood Moon that she knew the least--called her a 'specialist' in stealth and swoop. Evalynne mentally marked a note of the man's observation skills. She'd never really thought of herself as a specialist (especially in stealth), but maybe that was a way of thinking she needed to change, fast. She needed to own her skills; not arrogantly, but confidently. And she was glad that Vacks hadn't introduced her as a talentless runaway. That would have been an uphill climb, much harder than coming up through the airlock.

Meeting the captain of a ship--a man flanked by battle droids--was also a first. Well, not meeting per se. More like getting lectured on the first day of class. By a strict teacher who had high standards but secretly hoped you'd do well, but was the teacher who stated on the first day of class that at least one person would fail.

Which, of course, is how the whole thing felt. And she wasn't going to be the one who failed. She had no qualms about turning her weapon into the armory--as long as she was able to get it out when it was needed and would be able to get it out to practice, she'd be fine. And she had no other weapons with her. And she didn't drink, so that wouldn't be a problem. And she was pretty confident that Lasso didn't mean being in the 'fresher when a call to battle came, but she'd leave the other interpretations to other people.

The most exciting part to Evalynne was the information that they'd be dual-trained as pilots. Hopefully a fighter would handle better than a swoop.

Had the Captain hinted at a smile when he was leaving? Probably not, but Evalynne hoped that there was more to the captain than the hard shell he'd just displayed. Then again, they were at battle stations, and Lasso had more things to worry about than playing nice to new recruits. Also, always good to get an idea of what she was getting into. Not for the first time (nor the last, she suspected) she wondered if she'd thought this whole running away thing through.

They passed a bodybag on the way to their new quarters--she'd never seen one before, and the sight of it gave a slight tinge of worry to everything else she'd been thinking about. If she wasn't as good as Vacks had implied, or if she didn't gain new skills quickly enough, then that could be her. Or, worse, one of her new teammates. However, she kept her face in neutral--no point in letting the others have easy access to her thoughts or feelings. Not right away, anyway.

Her new quarters were nicer than the dorm room she'd left behind, but smaller than her bedroom back at her parents' place. Not that there was much call for thinking about that room much--she'd probably never see any of that again. And Jasan's family lived simply, funneling money they made back into their ships. Which made sense, economically. Keep the ships flying and you keep food on the table. It wasn't something she'd particularly had to worry about in the past, but it increasingly looked like it would be in her future. Time to start practicing now.

After putting her small toolkit in her jacket, she stowed her backpack in the footlocker, memorized the door code Biggs gave her, and pocketed the datapad and commlink. Private room meant a tiny expectation of privacy, but she doubted that expectation was ironclad (just like in a dorm). And she hadn't yet seen another woman, though she was sure the Mercs had to have some; at least, that's what she hoped. Plus the noise from the hangar bay would take some getting used to, but the guest room at Jasan's place had been near the main garage. Just like home, then.

Her mother's cousin's middle name? Myron? How in the universe would they know that, already?

She didn't want to be late to the meeting, but her stomach rumbled. It had been awhile since the nerf stew aboard the Blood Moon. Owen and Uriel asked about retrieving belongings from their ships--she hoped the answer wouldn't delay dinner for too much time!

TAG: Tim Battershell, galactic-vagabond422, Uriel Manteroni, Bravo (for Biggs, of course)

 

IC: Commander Yavscout, Mary Formal, Johnny Boy corvette
Location: near Draukyze


Standing up in the cockpit of his N-1, Yavscout listened to his Captain's voice respond. "Copy, Safety. Welcome home."

The elf released a breath, fogging up the visor. He checked the readouts inside his helmet to confirm the air was okay, and twisted the helmet off, stepping onto the wing of his craft, and jumping down to the deck with the helmet under his arm.

He waved jauntily at Deputy, as one of the hangar techs approached his craft.

Across the hangar, Major Totter was looking upset about something.

The elf moved past the floor opening, and exited the hangar through the door at the front of the ship, nodding to the sole B-1 on guard duty at the turbolifts, and called one of the lifts.

With him being Command, the turbolift lockdown did not affect him, so he was surprised to find Crewperson Formal levering herself up from her seated position in the far corner of the lift.

"Hello." Was the elf's opener, stepping in beside her, and pressing the button over her head for the top deck. "Are you hiding in here?"

"Commander! Thank the Force. And you know me better than that; I was trapped."

"Trapped?" With her standing beside him and tucking her portable scanner under an armpit to one-handedly adjust her gold outfit, pulling the high-slitted cheongsam down over her thighs to regain some modesty, Yav pointed out the square button with the outward-facing triangles. "Press that one and the doors'll open right up."

"Not if the bridge locks them down, and makes them accessible only to Security and Command personnel."

The doors opened on the top level, showing the corridor, but Yav stayed in the lift, since he had a conversation going here. He could see Al'kesh and three Super Battle Droids guarding the doors leading into the Bridge, and beyond them, several metres distant, a white sock sat alone on the deck.

"But, you are Security."

"Got my Sig and badge, but headquarters haven't issued my photo ID."

Yav frowned sidelong at her, the doors before them closing automatically. "I have no idea what that means." With a practiced move, he extended the fingers of his right hand between the closing doors at the height where he had figured out the anti-crush sensors to be. The doors detected the presence of his digits, and silently re-opened.

The Quick Reaction Force were still in place, but the sock was gone. Making a judgement call that there wasn't now a roaming sock threatening the ship, he kept the observation to himself.

"Agent Caitlin Todd. NCIS." Mary paused. "You wouldn't know her. I'm a Jackie of all trades, Commander. I'd think even Chief Taab thinks of me more as reserve pilot than Security. Even though I went through his training programme." She brought up her hand scanner, and waved it under the elf's nose. "But never mind all that, I've got a droid to find."

Yav shook his head at her and did the finger trick again to stop the doors closing. "Belay that. Captain's Orders. All Department Heads, Command Staff and Pilots to the Briefing Room. With me."

Really, he wanted to despatch to the Bridge to clear those Norrathianised Honey Bees into a sack and take them down to the Mess, as per Major Jeth's suggestion, but the Captain's instruction had been clear: Briefing Room. Now.

A moment later, Formal shuffling several metres behind him to get some circulation back into her legs, Yavscout was entering the Briefing Room, and discovering that Lasso's instructions hadn't been that clear.

""Commander," Yav noticed that Jase was back in his green short-sleeved shirt and black cargo pants, a clear sign that they had stepped down a bit from battle conditions. The elf wrinkled his nose at the perfumery coming off Lasso. "I'm going to head down to the hanger to meet these new Blood Moon arrivals. I didn't correct you over the comm traffic, but we're headed to the mess hall for the debrief. All of the Command Staff, Department Heads, and Pilots. We have a lot to discuss and go over, but not enough space here in the briefing room."

Mess Hall, Yav echoed mentally.

"If you wouldn't mind, can you find a useable astromech and plug this data into it for holograpic display in the mess hall?"

Yav glanced down at the open datapad that he had been handed. Well obviously, he was going to use Deputy.

"Sure thing. Captain."

"It has all the battle data, all the way up until Chief Williams---" Lasso stopped himself, for some reason. Things were not yet quiet enough for the elf to care why, "---ah, well, up until a now rescue mission over to the remains of that pirate ship. Just try not to use any words relating to ]father, mother, brother, sister, death, long lost, lie, or anything else related to those. They all relate to Chief Engineer Williams' current family predicament. It's all on the data-pad," Lasso started to leave, then turned around and said as the door to the bridge opened, "Its good to have you back, Commander. That mission was a hard one. For a moment there, I was afraid we'd lost most of the command staff. But luckily, we didn't. Force, were we lucky! And I take full blame for the mishap on that hanger boarding. I acted too quickly and you all almost paid the price for it. I thought, for a moment, we were invisible. I can't allow that to ever happen again as a Captain."

Apart from not telling anyone when the fuel tank was going to be detonated, he could not see how Jase was responsible for that clusterfrag of a raid on the pirate vessel, but of course he did not know that the Captain had failed to explain the plan to anyone actually involved in it's operation.

After Lasso's departure, Yavscout paused in the Briefing Room to call down to Deputy on his wrist comlink. "Meet me in the Mess Hall."

Natuarally the droid asked what the magic word was.

"What am I, a Sorceror of Tund?" Yav noticed Mary eyeing him from beyond the open doorway. "He wants to know what the 'magic word' is."

"Abra-cadabra, isn't it?"

"Hey, don't ask me, I only work here." Something occurred to the elf before he cut his connection with the droid. "Oh wait. Losing your main data probe on the pirate cruiser; is that going to affect you acting as a holoprojector, at all?"

Mary pulled her own comlink, calling the Bridge. "Can you have the astromech, Silver, meet Commander Yavscout and myself in the Mess Hall, please. We are heading there now." She looked up and tucked her comlink into the dress' diagonal seam across her chest. "Commander, I have arranged for a second R2 unit to join us downstairs, in case Deputy has a problem."

"Good thinking. Let's go." Yav led the way back to the turbolift.

Tag: no-one

 

IC: Mr. Biggs
Bow, Third Level, Johnny Boy


“Sir,” Owen said “I have a question not about the cabins.” He paused for a moment “Who do I talk to about getting things from my Y-wing? Everything I own besides what I’m wearing now is on that thing. I’d like to know when I can get them back.”

Uriel reinforces: "I have the same question."

Biggs smiled. Sir was a bit too much for the simple man. "No need lads calling me sir. Ain't a bone in my body worthy of such a title. Now, the Commander, Security Chief, and Major, those be different stories I tell you on the word sir and best be using it accordingly. The Captain, well, we call him Captain, nothing too fancy about that. But, yes matey, let me tell you now, it be okay in a little while to get your belongings. In fact," the old pirate looked at his data-pad and back at the group, "Looks like all the AI starfighters have been recalled, I be assuming your two fighters. Best get them unloaded, in your here cabins, and up to the Mess Hall in a snappy. Mess Hall be on the second level, that be the level above us here," Biggs said, pointing up, "And to the bow, so just be over this here cargo bay. If you'd get lost, ask someone here wondering around. If nothing else, for those of ya that be hungry like working folk, follow me to the Mess Hall."

Biggs left the group as such and proceeded to the Mess Hall. Because of all of the chaos, two armed organics stood guard at the Mess Hall door and let Biggs and company in without too much fuss. Biggs looked back to those following him, "Be just a few people here now. But be filling up nicely soon. Over there," Biggs pointed to a collection of snacks and small cold meat sandwiches, "Best I could do on short notice, but find a seat and eat up before this meeting begins."

The cook smiled to the group and walked back into his kitchen.



TAG @Uriel Manteroni, @Laine_Snowtrekker, @galactic-vagabond422, @Tim Battershell

---

IC: Jason Lasso
Bridge, Johnny Boy


"Captain on deck!" Wa Yay barked, everyone standing to attention.

"At ease," Lasso said, then looked at Wa Yay, "Report."

"Captain, remember sensors picking up a large object in and out of sensor range?"

Lasso nodded, "Yes."

"It's returned," Wa Yay said, "I ordered gunnery to be on alert and ordered the Reserve Flight to have their heads on a swivel."

"Good," Lasso had his data-pad out and typed something on it and handed it to the Non-Com, "Make sure communications get this out. Send it out on Radionics in three bursts in a puddle wrinkle affect."

Wa Yay looked at the data-pad, then at the Captain, and raised an eyebrow, "Captain, that message is...strange. Can I ask what it's for?"

Lasso smiled as he put his data-pad away, "No, you may not. Just do it. And tell me as soon as the ship disappears off sensors."

"Yes...sir." Wa Yay said, confused, "Captain, permission to speak freely?"

"Granted," Lasso replied.

"Captain, are you okay? Your acting...well, different, sir."

"Wa Yay, do you remember me telling you about the Force vision I had when Havah Jeth and I were in the Medical Bay following the Commando Droid attack by the Empire?"

"That was ages ago, but yes, sir, I do. About your brother Jim, sir, and the world Lehon. And I think Master Zat and He."

"Correct, what else?"

Wa Yay looked puzzled, "You, ah, went to Ilum to build your lightsaber, sir. You went with your brother, Jim, sir, right after the Battle of Yavin while the Mercs licked our wounds and took some time off to hide and regroup for several weeks."

Jason nodded, "That same Force dream has been coming more and more each passing month since the first time. But something changes each time. And then I see a new person, a new face, more detail of this person each time. And..." Lasso shook his head, "...this new person, he looks familiar, like I should know him, but I've never seen him in my life. Ever. And...ah, never mind. Just send that message in 30 minutes and let me know the results via comlink."

"Yes, sir."

Lasso turned and walked off the bridge, heading for the Mess Hall, leaving a confused Wa Yay.


No Tag