Star Wars OPEN Star Wars: Black Sheep: Tales from the Squadron (Always Accepting New Players!)

IC: Traer Lin
All available?

He wasn't one to look a gift Thakwaash in the mouth, and when the call went out for all available pilots, he grinned at Zara.

"I have an idea, why don't we do a bit more hunting from our cockpits?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"Assuming the traitor is a pilot."

He began to trot towards the hangar of the Intrepid.

"If not, I can always lob a torpedo at their cabin window."

TAG: @Vehn, @Rebecca_Daniels

 

IC Amber Tehanis/Jeen Talagana
Fasten seatbelts and prepare for landing. - Huge thanks to our Boss @Vehn for taking the time out for me


The X Wing hurtled through hyperspace, its pilot out like a light. Squirt, her droid was whistling and warbling loudly in an attempt to wake her, and it was finally working. “What?...huh?” Amber muttered as she lifted her head, then her eyes widened as she realised she was in a starfighter and in hyperspace! “What happened?!” She cried as the droid tried quickly to explain. “Oh yeah, no wonder my head hurts.” Looking down at her display she sighed, “one minute, could have been worse.” She said quietly seeing that was the time left till they jumped out of hyperspace. Reaching up she flicked off her weapons system and targeting, “I will not wreck another ship.” She muttered, “I’m not going to make my rep worse.” Soon the alert went off and she eased herself back to real space, where the Intrepid loomed large.

Opening a channel she contacted the ship, “Intrepid real, this is Black Sheep three, I’m back early apparently.” She’d listened to her droids rambling to get that information. “Permission to land please?” Closing it she dropped her head forward a bit, “oh Force please let me land before I puke.”

“Intrepid Actual, you are clear to land. We have a bucket waiting for you.”

Ambers eyes shot up, did she not close the channel? Apparently not, "not feeling great, she will be down, but it won't be pretty." She angled her X Wing toward the Magfield and could see her space, "down soon."

“Affirmative, Vixen. We have the hazmat crews ready to assist.”

Amber didn't need to respond to this and once set, guided her craft to the hangar deck, observing the teams standing by for her predicted crash landing, but this time were to be made redundant. Touching down maybe a little rough, her craft bouncing slightly, Amber hit the button to open the canopy as she ripped her helmet off.

"You did it Vixen!" Jeen was as the side of her ship, a grin on his face pleased she'd come back in one piece and brought her newly painted ship so as well.

"Move Jeen, I want to puke." She was undoing her crash webbing.

"Oh.." He started back, "where are the others?"

She stood, "they're coming, and Ianna is with them."

Having put his feet either side of the ladder slid to the bottom, he looked up in surprise. "Who!??!" He needed to be sure he'd heard right.

Swinging over the side she slid similarly to the bottom. "Ianna, you heard me, Kid's back." Amber put her hand over her mouth and gestured for him to stand aside as she broke into a run toward the refreshers.

Jeen watched her as a grin formed on his face. "My Ianna is back." He muttered.





TAG @Vehn @galactic vagabond - anyone.

 

IC: Captain Finnefrael “Feral” Ordwgal
Multiple Locales…

No sooner had Feral touched down, ready to spend some time off duty with Joy did new orders come down. He’d not even gotten the boarding ladder on his Recon X before that happened and he needed to make some decisions. Finally though, he got to read the message from Wyrock which caused his brow to furrow. With him being sent out to do the type of mission his craft was meant to do, he wouldn’t be able to assist her if she needed it.

But…the thought of his crew chief gave him another thought. Glancing over his shoulder, ”Ready for a bit of a trip, Bones?” he asked his droid, ”We’ve been tasked with…” an annoyed whistle cut him off, Bones telling him that the droid had already received the order. Another whistle told him the expended decoy had been replaced, so they were fully armed again.

Shaking his head and chuckling, ”Of course you knew before I did. Well, my little sarcastic droid, we’re going home first, see if Lexrul works for our purposes.” A happy tweeting whistle came, the fighter already lifting from the deck as the cockpit shut. Feral settled his helmet back on his head, thinking about how his ears would ache and he’d have a sore head for wearing a brain bucket for as long as he suspected he was about to do.

Requesting and receiving departure clearance, Feral pushed the power levers forward, the fighter turning and swooping out of the hangar, through the magfield. He settled into the cushion of his chair, slowly bringing up the power of the fighter to reach where he could engage the hyperdrive. Just before he did he switched off the IFF, setting it to a neutral code, and flicked the safety off the switch for the ECM system.

The flight to Lexrul was without incident, a simple trip through hyper, letting him close his eyes for a few hours. Bones woke him a couple minutes before hyper emergence, letting him work out the kinks his legs had taken while he slept. He also wrote a short message to be bounced off the satellites of the system, before reaching his home. It would, hopefully, assist the Sheep in the not too distant future but he didn’t need the Imps to find out. When the chime sounded, the streaks of hyper resolving into the starscape of Lexrul’s system, he flicked the ECM, all but disappearing from sensors.

Which was something he was quite glad of only a few minutes later. All four recon pods were deployed, scanning the system from top to bottom. All the data was relayed to him before it was sent on a tight beam hyper transmission back to the Intrepid. One area drew his interest quickly, his interest and his annoyance. He’d thought that his people were done with the Imps and their agenda after Krennic but, as he drew closer to the anomaly that he’d found his annoyance grew into anger.

He didn’t know exactly what was being built but the Imperial presence, far out at the fringes of the system, was unmistakable. It seemed they were trying to build at least one large, SD sized ship, in a system where the rebels would, perhaps, not suspect its construction. He added a note to the data when it was being sent, Intrepid, I would rule Lexrul out, there’s Imperial construction and they are patrolling, at least far enough out to not draw the full ire of the planet. The construction is a SD sized craft, but it looks like it’s all a massive cannon with the skeleton of widespread arms.



He didn’t know what he was seeing, had no idea that he was observing the construction of one of the world killing Onager-class SDs. All he knew was that it appeared to be bad news and the large presence of Imperials, even if in the outer system would not suit for the Sheep and the other craft with them to regroup, unfortunately. He had hoped to get a day to go down and see his nephew.

Sighing, he retracted the recon pods, maneuvering around the various patrols as he moved to the opposite side of the system from the Imps before he lit off the hyper, heading to his next possible system that he’d thought of. He fell into a troubled sleep, nightmares of his time in the Clone Wars, of the Battle of Hoth, and of his time at Son Tay all kept him from sleeping well for the next few hours.

Slightly groggy, he reached the system he’d chosen, double checking the ECM before he emerged. He was high above the ecliptic, had set the entrance to let him do so, and was glad to have done so. His fist pounded against the cockpit window as he both cursed and began to sweat at the same time. Clearly visible near what he’d hoped to be the remains of Reklam Station, in the Yarma system, were the iconic arrowhead shapes of Victory II class SDs.



What made him sweat though, was that he’d come out right between and, thankfully, behind two full flights of squints,TIE/IN Interceptors. Similar to the Defenders, where he emerged meant that he was mostly in their blind spots. Which meant that as soon as he emerged and the ECM gear was active, he was gone before they could notice.



However, he was sure, with such a presence, the SDs would have their own sensors at work and he doubted his emergence, so close to a patrol, would go unnoticed. And, sure enough, one of the flights of Interceptors was swinging around, even as he dove, as fast as was possible while still remaining stealthy, into the boneyard of the system. Suddenly he was glad of the recent test flight he’d assisted Joy on, as he’d already recently had some experience in such a place.

His recon pods were extended to use their own thrusters to keep them from impacting the various craft that his Recon X was flying through, meticulously documenting the presence of the system, for the next two hours. He took his time as he saw several flights of both eyeballs, TIE/LN starfighters, and squints crisscrossing the boneyard, just outside of it, hunting for whatever had entered the system. Which told him the Imps were serious about rebuilding Reklam Station, probably to use the materials of the broken down Rebel craft to use on…he swore again, the Imps were getting crafty, between Lexrul and here he suddenly realized they were diversifying, spreading out their efforts to tear apart hulks as well as captured craft and reusing them to build things like that odd shaped SD at Lexrul.

The ‘heat’ finally began to die down and he took a chance, once he was on the far side of the planet from the station, to emerge from the boneyard, heading toward the jump point. As he drew close to it he sent all the data he’d collected along with another note, Yarma is a bust too, the Imps are rebuilding Reklam Station, probably to assist with builds like I found at Lexrul

He had one last option, one that had come to mind because of his nuisance Delta flight wingman. He knew Traer hated the Incom products and had whined, on many occasions about his beloved ship and where he’d left it. Which meant that it was, hopefully, an option. So, the course to Bracca was locked in and then he jumped. To be fair, part of the message he’d sent at Lexrul, he’d hoped not to have had to use but in this case it had gone from last case to possibly only case.

Once again, he tried to rest on the hyper flight to Bracca, the old nightmares resurfacing even more, one in particular, the day that Order 66 had been implemented. He relived seeing the Jedi that Razor Squadron had worked with being cut down, again and again, by clones he’d until that moment considered friends.

When he emerged at Bracca he had to reach into a pouch at his side, to take out a stim, injecting it, as he was exhausted. The effects hitting, he was suddenly alert. There wasn’t much traffic, the Imps had mostly stopped using the system, except for the occasions that they would sell hulks to the Smuggler’s Guild there. Still as stealthy as possible he headed down, nearer to the surface, flying over a world literally littered with broken craft.



As he stuck to the night side, the darkness giving him extra cover, a message pinged his console, It has been agreed. The Intrepid, Sanguinity, and whatever other craft need to use the provided IFF codes when arriving. They are no longer, in the eyes of the client, Rebel craft but a splinter group of the Red Sun. They will ping, with those codes, as the Vergence and the Firepit. If other ship names are needed, the other IFF codes can be tweaked to do so. Bill is on us for it all. Good hunting.

Feral slumped in the seat, in relief. They might actually have a chance here, if that was the case. Tightening his belts, he finished surveying as much as he dared, finding no true Imperial presence, except for one ship that came, dropped off chunks of hull, then departed.

Pulling up, he headed back out of the atmosphere, speeding toward the jump point. As he did at Yarma, he sent a message with the codes that had been sent to him, in a hyper transmission, to the Intrepid. Bracca seems to be the best option and, with the aid received, the IFF codes as well, we should be able to regroup here. Enroute home.

With a sigh, the transmission sent, hoping that no one knew that he’d used his contacts as he had before to aid the Sheep, he pushed the power levers into the hyper range, the streaks of stars filling the cockpit as he raced back toward the Intrepid. Closing his eyes, the nightmares couldn’t even rouse him as he passed out hard, Bones ready to wake him just before he entered the system where the Intrepid was located, for now.

TAGS: @Vehn, @Adalia-Durron, @Sarge, @TheAdmiral, @Rebecca_Daniels, @Sinrebirth, @Mistress_Renata, and everyone else sorry but 10 TAG max so took the first few I saw as well as the GM.

 

IC Amber Tehanis Jeen Talagana
Felt better to be honest.


Hanging over the receptacle, Amber felt like there was nothing left inside her, guts included, but she knew better as she rolled off her knees and to the side to lean against the wall. She'd considered going back out, the pull of 'doing the right thing' was strong and knowing her fellow pilots were still out there weighed heavily on her mind, but the simple fact was, she couldn't.

"Amber?" Jeen was cautious, this was a unisex refresher, but he was still wary.

"I'm dying, leave me be." She responded, her green eyes closed as she felt sweat running down her face.

"What happened?" Jeen was now outside the stall she was in. "do I need to call a medtech?" He asked with concern.

At first she was going to say no, then the way her head hurt and the nausea that was still there she changed her mind. "Yeah....might be an idea." She grunted as the urge to hurl returned, spinning her to the bowl to only dry reach. "I think.....I broke something."

Jeen pulled out his comlink, "Medical team to refresher bay 3, hangar deck." He ordered, getting a quick confirmation that someone was coming. "Hang in there Amber, helps on its way."

Sure she'd burst several blood vessels in her fact with the exertion she didn't answer, simply proceeded to dry reach again, her insides screaming in protest.

Jeen frowned, "can you open the door?"

"No, if they can't........get in, just kill me, please?" She begged, the over exertion of herself was too much, her physical form had not coped with the mental exertion and now her mind was starting to go down with it all. Her body heaving but her mind was blacking out now.

"Hang on Vixen, they'll fix you up in no time." He began to search for ways to open the stall, he had to make it easy for them to help her. Pulling out his multi tool he found the correct blade to insert into the door to manually over ride it and open it. Just in time to see the pilot pass out on the floor. He knelt down and checked her pulse and sighed, "well at least you're not puking now." Jeen muttered.




TAG @Vehn Anyone who is interested.

 

IC: Maxime "Max" Pallas, MacKenzie "Fox" Hollymander
Thanks to @Mistress_Renata who without I'd never have gotten this done.
Intrepid corridors
A Possible Clue?

Max moved around the corridors as well as she could. The blast doors were all down. She had to do some slicing to override a few, and discovered that the virus which had infected their fighters had spread to the rest of the ship. That explained the power blackouts. She wondered if the new guy had caught it yet. He talked a big game. How had the virus spread from the ships? She couldn't let that distract her now; first was Khairn.

MacKenzie had followed Max and now watched as she examined things, but there was little he could do as this wasn't his strength. "I'm going to check on the Commander, he might wake and say something." He explained to Max before turning and heading back toward the medical bay.

Max had spotted Baniss retreating out the door --where was he going?--and stood back as Khairn was moved away on the hoverstretcher, with a grim-faced Hollymander following behind. She spotted a small blood trail where Khairn had dragged himself after he had been shot, and she swallowed hard, tracking it back. It wasn't far, it ended in the previous corridor. A cleaning droid was trundling up, but Max held out her hand. "Hold on," she said. "This is a crime scene."

The droid warbled in confusion, and moved forward. Max growled, trying to remember the correct commands. "Delay sanitization procedure, resume in...80 minutes." The droid hummed and settled into place, with a small light flashing that it was in standby mode.

Max didn't try to understand the pattern of blood spatter, but she looked around to see if any other blaster bolts had gone astray. She only saw the security cam that showed Khairn falling, with the shooter out of sight. But she could figure out where the shooter was standing. There was a panel open, with some wiring loose. She bent for a closer look. There was a socket on the end of one of the loose wires, which would have plugged into something. A comms array? Is this how the mole was transmitting? There was something else...a rank chit. Automatically Max checked her own, which was still in place. It wasn't Khairn's, he was a full Commander. Could this have been from the shooter?

She reached for her commlink as Digger charged in at full speed, whistling and bleating so fast that it was impossible to make heads or tails of it. "Whoa, whoa, slow down, Digs! What happened? Are you okay?"

The little astromech opened his storage compartment and extended an arm with a piece of machinery attached. Max studied it. "A transmitter?" She frowned as Digger explained. "With an explosive attached?" She nodded, and sighed as he finished. "Well, I wish you could have held on to the device so we could analyze what kind of bomb it was, but you're right, it wouldn't be safe so near the hull."

She opened her comm to call Hollymander when an alert sounded. "Son of a barve!" To report to the fighter bay or report to Husk? She sighed and contacted Husk. "Sir, we've found something. I need to get to the hangar, but I'd really like you to see this."

-/-

Standing in the Medbay, McKenzie watched as they worked on the Commander. A nurse rushed past him, and he turned to her asking “where exactly was he found?”

“A corridor near the Officers Mess, the lights weren’t working in it.” She answered quickly before rushing back into the room.

He pursed his lips, that's where Max was digging, as it was essentially a crime scene now. He knew the man was in the best hands, it was time to find out more.

“Sir!?!? Get in here!” The nurse called to him, “he’s trying to say something.”

MacKenzie rushed in and listened to the slurred words of a man in great pain.

“Trai……….to……trai…….traer.” Then he passed out.

MacKenzie swallowed, “did he just say Traer?”

“He was trying to say traitor, I think but it could have been Traer?” The doctor clarified as best he could.

With a nod, MacKenzie backed from the room, “keep me informed.” Turning he strode away, he had a lead now.



TAG @Vehn @adaml83 @Sinrebirth - anyone interested.

 

OOC: The dreadnaught finally getting away, we hope, with Mitth and Vehn.

Lieutenant Louise "Lou" Vehn/Laylee Wyrock AKA "Bones"/Akiva Lurell/Lawrence "Law" Clark
Dreadnaught Scimitar
Outskirts of the Debris Field

A warning chime began to sound at one of the consoles, drawing Wyrock’s attention away from the engines for a moment. Glancing at one of the hovering remotes she whistled, ‘speaking’ to the droid. It bobbed for a moment then flew away from the engine console. It headed toward where the chime was sounding, dropping down to the console level, studying the readouts for a short time. When it had sifted through the data it whistled back at her.

”Frack……” she muttered.

Turning away from the panel, she glanced at the other two women then at the Marine leader who had come with them. ”Oooiiieee, soldier boy…know how to operate a point defense panel? We’ve got company coming.”

Akiva looked at her panel of the scans of local space and heard Wyrock respond. Muttering a silent curse for the Imps to find a stowaway ghost she turned back to the 'captain', "Lou, you wanna revisit that no hyperspace jump notion and tell me which way to jump? Cause, I don't think the fancy maneuvers will do much when the enemy has more guns than we have directions to move!"

Lawrence gave a sharp nod to Wyrock. He wasn’t about to argue with her. Not now. Not with the Empire bearing down on them. He found the appropriate station.

“I can handle it,” Lawrence cracked, “simple right? Just point and shoot. Easy! So easy a Marine can do it.”

Lou looked at Akiva and nodded her head in agreement.

“We need to get the hyperdrive functional. Intrepid is working on getting us jump coordinates. It may be a few. Continue to do evasive maneuvers. I am worried about those TIE bombers. Wyrock, can you get us at least one jump out of this aging relic?”

Cursing under her breath, Wyrock didn’t answer Lou directly, not at first. Reaching over her shoulder, she pulled the damaged part from her bag, unlatching the straps of the bag. As it fell, she pulled her huge wrench out of it. An almost crazed look was on her face as she finally turned to Lou, ”Well chica, this is going to suck but maybe one jump.” she called out as she took off running.

Looking over her shoulder, ”Soldier boy, don’t let them kill us in…oh…the next five minutes.”

With that she was gone, racing through the corridors of the ship, until she reached the engine compartment. Skidding to a halt before the hyperdrive, she pulled that most trusty of a mechanic’s tools from a thigh pocket, her superadhesive tape. Wrapping the slashed sections of the part with the tape, she jammed it into place. A couple turns of the wrench and the part was set to function, the hyperdrive whining as it began to come alive.

Wrench over her shoulder, hoping a stormtrooper or two were in her way on the way back to give her something to take her frustration out on, she raced back towards the bridge.

“Stop right there, Rebel scum!” A clipped almost robotic voice said to Wyrock as she made her way to the bridge.

Two Imperial Stormtroopers were all that was left from the scouting party that had rendezvoused with the Victory II class Star Destroyer.

Wyrock’s eyes lit in a sudden joy. She had something to take her anger and frustration out on now. Her head turned, eyes glittering, as she looked at the stormtroopers. Taking a deep breath in on the nic stick, she chuckled, ”Boyos…I was hoping for some workout partners and the Force provided.”

As soon as the words left her mouth she breathed out, a huge cloud of smoke, what she’d been holding in, blew out, right in their faces. She dropped to the deck spinning. That huge wrench in her hands, she used it both to speed her momentum and…to aim a wicked strike at the outer side of the knee of the trooper closer to her.

The stormtrooper cried out in sickening pain as his knee collapsed inward at an unnatural angle. He went down to the floor, writhing, but not dead. The other stormtrooper brought their weapon to bear on Wyrock and snapped off a few shots. Even at close range the Stormtrooper missed.

Shaking her head as bolts rained down around her, Wyrock looked at her wrench for a moment. Lifting the end, she kissed it, ”Did the buckethead scratch you, baby? I’ll buff it out when we get home. Now, just a little more work.” she murmured to it.

Looking up at the second trooper her eyes glittered once more. ”I’d say run but…” with that she spun the wrench before slamming it upward, right at the junction between his legs, ”...I don’t think either of you will be now.” she said with a grunt at the strength of the swing.

The trooper shrieked as the wrench made contact. He went down hard and lay there unmoving. The last of the Imperial resistance aboard the Scimitar had been silenced. The ship suddenly rocked and Lou's voice came over the comm unit, "The TIE Bombers are blind firing their missiles. They have a rough idea where we are but nothing locked in yet. We need to get out of here!"

To be sure, Wyrock slammed her wrench down on the head of the one who’s knee she’d destroyed, now whistling a happy tune. Settling the wrench back over one shoulder, she grabbed the ankle of the one who she’d hit last, kicking his blaster away, dragging his unconscious and moaning from the pain body behind her. It made her smile to hear his head and helmet bouncing on the deck, with each hatch she went through and the small imperfections in the deck.

When she reached the bridge again, she deposited the body, which curled into a fetal position around the center of pain, by the Marine and the station he was at. ”We’ve got one jump, maybe, cutie! she called out to Lou, ”And I got rid of the last uninvited guests, the other has no left knee anymore, out there.”

Akiva grunted slightly at Lou's words and the sight on the scopes of the blind missiles making a debris field into a chaos field. "Must be nice to be able to waste bombs like that." Hearing Wyrock she simply shook her head, "I hope someone is shutting off their comms or locator beacons. We do not need those blind missiles to suddenly become guided! Now someone tell me where we can jump once and not be followed!"

Lou leaned over and nodded as she was talking privately with Intrepid Actual. When she was done she looked over at Wyrock and Akiva with a serious expression.

"They're sending us coordinates now. They didn't say where exactly but its fairly far away. They're also getting us new IFF codes to blend in better with our destination. Keep a sharp eye out for those TIE Bombers. I don't want anything taking us down before we make the jump. Wyrock, how are we looking? You think she can do it?"

Wyrock was looking over her wrench again, murmuring reassurances to it, when Lou spoke up. She spun in the seat she’d taken, back at the engine monitoring panel. Eyes flicked from readout to readout, double checking every aspect of the engines. Setting the wrench down carefully on the small portion of desk beside the keypad, she typed out a couple commands, watching as the gauges shifted.

Grunting, then pulling out a new nic stick, the tip of her artificial index finger popping open with a flame to light it, she sucked in then spun back. ”Well, crazy cutie, that part is holding for now so I’d say…” She reached back, tapping a readout with a knuckle, causing the gauge to flicker, ”...we should be good for one jump.”

"Your confidence as always overwhelms!" Akiva barked back at the engineer. Hands dancing over the console she began the lumbering behemoth to roll and turn in a dive, cutting thrust to make them tumble slightly before re-engaging the engines at full burn - directly at some space debris to kick it up and back at their pursuing TIEs.

She didn't have time to check if it worked, bought time, or even made the situation worse. No, all she could focus on was pulling out of the new vector and towards an exit that should put them on a path for their lone jump. "Tell me when we have codes. I'm trying to line up when we dip out, orient, and go to be as short a gap to limit the chance for the Imps to pin down our vectors."

"Codes are inbound now, hang in there!" Lou cried out as she gripped the chair she currently occupied.

The Scimitar shuddered again underneath the incredible strain of the maneuvers as the TIE Bombers missiles detonated closer and closer. It wouldn't be long now before they were within visual range if they hadn't already been spotted.

"Got 'em! Inputting the codes now. They should be showing up on your terminal in just a few seconds," Lou said as she glanced over at Wyrock, "I hope you're as good as advertised, lady, because we only have one shot."

A wry grin formed, the nic stick drooping slightly in her clenched teeth as Wyrock looked back and forth between Akiva and Lou. ”Not confidence, I’m right and that’s all that matters.” Ash drifted down as she chuckled, ”And I’m better than advertised, which is why the rich city boy keeps me around as his crew chief!” Tapping another gauge, ”Now Wolf, now is better than any other moment, jump before the part fails.”

Akiva was silently reciting every foul word in Huttesse as well as Cudro she could think of, all four hands were dancing across her consoles, tweaking levers and punching in commands. The ship was large, gangly, and in rough shape, but she was doing her best to make it dance like something other than a pregnant Hutt in labor pains! "You might wanna close the blast shields!" she called back to the others as she felt that if she timed this right they would dip out with debris between them and the Imps.

"Come on ugly, don't die on me now!" Rolling she switched to a better section with more working thrusters to push them into the new line. "Ready jump in Three! Two! One!" Her hand reached out to the lever.

TAGS: @Vehn, @Mitth_Fisto, Any interested Sheep wanting to see

 

IC: Captain Finnefrael “Feral” Ordwgal, Flight Lieutenant Amber Tehanis
Return to the Intrepid - thanks to @darthbernael for this fun joint post



Sleep had been deep and dreamless. Amber's exertion and efforts has brought about a slumber she'd not had in many years. The medtecs had been very understanding and fed her full of electrolytes, hydration and several vitamins so as to cover all the bases. They couldn't find anything specific wrong with her, other than exhaustion, so they treated her appropriately, then escorted her to her quarters once stable and her droid ordered to monitor her condition.

That was 6 hours ago and now she lay staring at the ceiling, her headache gone, her body feeling rested and entirely 100% stronger than she'd been earlier. There'd been no contact from anyone who'd gone on mission with her, but maybe they'd told them to stay clear of her for a while? It was possible. Sitting up and swinging her legs to the side, Amber breathed in deeply and let the breath out slowly with a smile. The mission had not been entirely successful due to her efforts, but surely she'd helped? A trip to her ship to talk to Jeen and to check it out was needed, and maybe she'd find someone to clear up how well, or not so well, the mission went.

Bathing and dressing in her black and green body suit and pulling on her boots, Amber felt better than earlier and knew she needed a meal soon enough, but ship and Jeen first, "come on Squirt, you're supposed to be watching me......keep up." She said to her droid as they left her quarters, the hangar deck her main focus now.

The Recon X serenely flew through hyper, on its return trip to its mothership, the Intrepid. It, the astromech on board, and its pilot had just been through a true breaking in of its systems, as they attempted to find a spot for their little flotilla to regroup, to relax, and to get back to fighting trim. It had taken the little craft through three separate systems, the last was the best candidate for what was needed.

But, the fighter was silent for now. The little droid, Bones, was monitoring the pilot as they drew nearer to their destination. If a droid could worry, it would be. The pilot’s vitals were depressed, breathing shallow, heart rate low. But his theta waves were spiking in odd, irregular patterns. He was unconscious but his mind was racing with dreams of some sort. Bones had a command to wake the pilot just before they were to emerge from hyper, a command he was uncertain would be fulfilled.

Bones was controlling the systems of the fighter which meant that he felt the pulse of information when they were near their destination. Whistling sharply into the headphones of Feral’s helmet provoked no response. The droid tried a second time, louder and more piercing, again to no avail. The next attempt came just before they emerged from hyper, adding a short shock. Which only caused Feral’s body to arch and then slump once more.

When emergence occurred Bones had to refocus, to turn off the ECM system, and to turn the IFF back on so that the ship wouldn’t think it was an unknown approaching. The droid relayed to the controllers onboard that Delta One was inbound, adding that his pilot would possibly need some assistance when the ship arrived.

Over the course of the next twenty minutes of flight, Bones sent updates of Feral’s condition to the medbay, that he was stable save for the odd spikes of his theta waves kept them from demanding immediate attention when they arrived, deciding it had to be a side effect of the stim that he’d taken to stay awake for the mission.

--/--

Cato Neimoidia, the nightmare

The warm, moist air of the jungle around the base touched Feral’s face as he boarded his modified ARC-170. He and the other non-clones that were a part of Razor Squadron, the others mostly techs and admin, rarely flew with the clones themselves in the second seat. At least he didn’t. His R5 droid, Bones I took most of the load off of him in the battles against the Separatists. And the battle here at Cato Neimoidia was no different.

He and Bones had reached the squadron in the middle of the battle on Nelvaan. They’d had to quickly prove themselves as the first non clones to join the squadron. The clones themselves had been standoffish at first, not truly willing to accept even a near human in what had been a purely clone squadron before. But, his Lexrullan heritage and what made them different from normal humans did just that. By the time the battle was won he was no longer an outsider, he was all but one of the team. His fighter was even christened, the art slightly different, a roaring rancor, teeth bared, in the place of what most of the others had.

It had been on Geonosis that Plo Koon first guided and led the squadron, something that the Jedi did more and more often as the battle progressed. By the time the squadron was sent to Cato Neimoidia he was a trusted compatriot, leading them and minimizing their losses better than any other had done before.

All this ran through Feral’s mind as he prepared to lift, glancing over at the smaller Jedi fighter that Plo usually flew, as it warmed up. He settled into the cockpit, the hatch closing around him. Settling his helmet in place, he listened to Bones' report, telling him the ship was up, fully armed, and ready to go. With a nod at his crew chief, he lifted from the deck, in an almost synchronized mass liftoff with the rest of the flight that was to accompany their Jedi commander.

The first couple hours of battle were as fearsome and as tiring as they usually were, the droid forces, and Separatist ones, arrayed against them came in what seemed neverending waves. But their battle strategy kept them in formation and they had yet to suffer a loss.

His eyes narrowed as their opponent’s forces seemed to fall back at the same moment that the comms crackled. The image of a wizened man in robes, the face a familiar one, the Chancellor, filled the holo and he heard the words Execute Order 66.

His wingmates fell back and he heard muffled orders, causing him to whip his head around in confusion. A ship to ship broadcast crackled on his comm, “Feral…get out…get out now…the clones have gone…nuts.” In the same instant he heard the other ARC-170’s open fire. But this time their target was not the Separatist forces but rather the respected and loved Jedi who’s ship was now in front of them all.

He screamed out ”No!!!” as Bones screamed at him, making their ship evade, the fire was also coming at him, if only as a secondary target. A holo popped up, as he saw hit after hit impact on Plo’s fighter. It was an old comrade, “Get out Feral or we will have to kill you next.”

It was Bones who took action, the ARC-170 suddenly arcing upwards, power at full, racing away as Feral saw in the distance as Plo’s fighter took even more hits, finally erupting in flames as it crashed into the surface of the world. Feral screamed out, pain, anguish, and an utter sense of loss in his tone as darkness clouded his mind, dragging him into the depths of unconsciousness.

--/--

Hoth, the nightmare

Hoth was the coldest Feral had ever felt, even though he’d been to most of the Outer Rim planets in the last twenty years. He was bundled in his flight suit with a thick jacket over it, needed as the heaters keeping the tunnels from freezing did little more to warm the air. He had just left the briefing room when the klaxon sounded, warning the base that they had been compromised and that the Imperials had arrived.

It took two steps to reach the shelf that held his flight bag and helmet before he was rushing past others to reach the snow speeder that was his bird. His gunner was already in his seat, the harpoon gun tracking back and forth as the man made sure that the mechanism hadn’t frozen over since their previous flight.

Tossing his flight bag into the well for it, he pulled on his flight helmet, leaping into the cockpit. He missed his old helmet, honestly. He’d spent years working on it, upgrading it, as he just couldn’t make himself replace the helmet that reminded him of why he fought as he did, having been given it by Plo Koon after a mission that almost had his head taken off by a lucky shot and his previous helmet destroyed. But, it was stored safely with his ARC-170 and Bones I, away from where all this carnage and death was happening in the fight against the Empire.

Pulling down the canopy, he slid one arm into the strap, slapping his gunner on the shoulder, “Going to get a walker this time?” he quipped as he settled his full harness in place, quickly lighting the drive, and listening to the concise briefing. “Looks like you’ll get your chance.”

“Just point me at them and get ready for a ride.” was snapped back at him by his gunner Specialist “Fine Eye” Collum.

He snorted, lifting off, and zooming out of the ice cave hangar. He burst into a frigid daylight, zooming over the highly reflective surface of the world, the ice everywhere making it a challenge to fly. His snow speeder quickly passed the shield generators and the trench where the groundpounders would make their stand.

Waggling his wings at them, he set off toward the clouds of ice dust and ice crystals that were kicked up by the massive feet of the Imperial walkers. His gunner kept an eye on their six, making sure to call out when he saw TIE fighters go past. Thankfully they weren’t after the low level speeders, wanting to overwhelm the base quickly they focused on the troops.

Weaving between the legs of the walkers, avoiding the incoming turbolaser fire from their snouts, he blasted through the formation before wheeling the speeder around in a tight arc. Keying the microphone, ”Going to come up along one, will be seen at your 3 o’clock first.” he told Collum.

Racing back toward one walker in the middle of the pack he deployed the air brakes, slowing the speeder, and giving his gunner time to line up his shot. At this speed the speeder was squirrelly, not wanting to stay straight or even airborne. He could only hold it for a few seconds but, in that time, he missed the AT-ST that had come up on his starboard side.

Which was why he was shocked and fighting the controls when the speeder bucked, flames rising, and the engine screaming before coughing and quitting, his craft falling out of the sky at the shots from the AT-ST. The speeder nosed over, cartwheeling across the ice field, until it came to a rest, at an angle, against an ice boulder.

But Feral didn’t realize that, at first. The impact had driven him into unconsciousness. He stayed that way for several long moments, before his head shook and he lifted it from the canted angle. Realizing where and how he was situated, he hit the quick release spinning in the seat. And then collapsed against the seat, growling in pain and loss. Where the laser fire had hit had basically scooped out the back half of the speeder, only Collum’s lower half was still with him.

He whipped back around, reaching for his bag and the blaster clipped to the side panel. The hatch was jammed and, just as he finally wrenched it open, he was faced with a quartet of snowtroopers, blasters in his face. Carefully, he set the blaster down on the speeder, raising his hands. He could tell the troopers wanted him to resist so that they could shoot him.

Behind them an imperious voice came, “Hold your fire.” The clipped sound of walking came to him and he saw an Imperial officer weave between the troopers. An arrogant expression was on the man’s face as he looked Feral up and down. “A Captain, he could be of use. Son Tay for him.” he said, turning, his tone was as dismissive as his stride.

Feral saw the butt of the blaster rifle as it came for his head and the last thought he had before he fell into unconsciousness was ’That officer’s hair was red…’

The nightmare rears

Events proceeded and Feral found himself on Cato Neimoidia, watching Plo Koon be killed, again but this time it wasn’t the old clone friend warning him off, it was the guard at Son Tay that loved to torment the prisoners, a bright red sash now on his torso, in the holor.

He was walking the barracks, the heat and humidity of Son Tay bearing into him as he accompanied the guard. The man had tossed every bunk, had gone through every locker they were allowed and seemed even more annoyed that he hadn’t found anything. Yet it wasn’t their usual guard, it was an arrogant Imperial officer with bright red hair.

Crawling out of the snowspeeder, he managed to get a short distance from it before the snowtroopers caught up to him. He knew, could feel, that they wanted to shoot him right then and there. That was, until a voice stopped them. From behind them stepped a figure, dressed similarly to them, except in armor twenty years out of date. It was his old comrade from Razor Squadron, the bright red stripes of his helmet giving him away before he was dismissed to be sent off to a POW camp.

The locations changed again and again, the figures he faced again and again changed. Yet one thing remained the same, something that almost seemed to give him a lifeline of hope in the torment of the nightmares, there was always some red element that reminded him of something, something he couldn’t even remember at the moment.

--/--

What he didn’t know, deep in the torment of his nightmares was that the hardened conditioning he’d trained his mind to hold had let go. As his Recon X drew close to the Intrepid, especially as it entered the hangar, anyone with any erg of Force Sensitivity, that could feel the pain, the loss, the hurt of an unconscious mind would feel that pressing hard against their psyche.

He was so lost in his nightmares he wasn’t even fully aware he was immersed in them and couldn’t find the way to take control of the horrible dreams and get himself back to consciousness…

--/--

The Recon X slowed and swooped into the hangar, Bones audio receptors in the cockpit picking up a muttered ”Red…” as he brought the fighter to its spot. His dome spun, looking around the hangar as the fighter paused over its bay.

The droid seemed to come to a decision and the fighter flexed on its landing struts as Bones had disconnected from his bay, the fighter dropping out from under him to land. The small rockets on his legs fired as soon as he was clear, just enough to drift away from the fighter and onto the deck.

At which point, Bones began rolling around the hangar looking for one specific being.

Jeen was nowhere to be found, and knowing Ianna was back, that didn't surprise her. Walking along the length of her craft she was pleased as she ran her fingers along the parasteel, the purple was still intact. The ship was still intact and that for her was a positive for her. A sound caught her attention as an alert that something was coming in through the magfield, moving to the end of her ship Amber looked up to see who or what it was.

A pressure against her temples appeared, misery, suffering and pain. Leaning against the engine of her X Wing, Amber closed her eyes, someone was in pain, mental pain and it was pushing hard on her mind. Opening her green eyes she looked to the craft now landing, was it coming from there? Watching silently she witnessed the droid extract itself and touch down on the deck, her mind swirling with suffering she'd not felt before. Beside her Squirt rolled up, warbling quietly as it monitored her vitals.

Bones rolled through the hangar, dome swiveling from side to side. He knew who he was searching for, at least generally. Having a crew roster he was sure he’d recognize the woman when he found her. And the droids communicated amongst each other. Which caused some circuits to close, reaching out and sending a message to her droid, asking where the pilot named Amber was currently located.

Squirt whistled and pushed himself into Amber's leg, looking down at him she frowned. "What do you mean he's looking for me?" Another whistle followed by a warble and other nudge. Amber turned to look at the droid who seemed to be searching, "him?" Squirt backed up and moved around her toward the other droid, whistling and gurgling as he went. "Ok, I'm following." She muttered, pushing off the ship's engine.

Bones heard the unmistakable, at least to another droid, ‘voice’ of Squirt. His dome spun and focused on the droid, letting out a whistle that sounded almost of relief. Trundling towards Squirt, he began to whistle and tweetle in their ‘language’, explaining that Feral was unconscious in his fighter, that the exertions of the flight he’d just taken had put him in that state, and that his vitals were low and thready, as though he was stuck in some dream or nightmare he couldn’t get out of.

The droid listened before turning to his owner, urging Amber to follow before moving at speed toward the landed ship.

Amber frowned, now concerned for the pilot, “ok, I’m coming. What happened?” Once again the droid told her what Bones had said and soon they were both at the base of the ship. Amber slapped her hand on the side of the ship a couple times hoping for a response, but got none. “Great.” Looking around she found a ladder nearby and in a few seconds had it pressed up against the dark ship and was climbing it, palming the open button from the outside. The entire time the pressure on her mind increasing, the feelings of misery, pain, suffering and loss were like a wet blanket someone had thrown over her head.

She knew him, of course she did and she owed this man. With a shake of her head, she tried to clear her head, “Captain? Captain Ordwgal?” She said as she reached out to his shoulder with a little shake.

Bones sat beside Squirt near the boarding ladder, whistling in a sad, soft tone. His dome turned toward Squirt and he went on, telling the other droid how Feral had been muttering red and things like that, which was what had caused Bones to seek out Amber.

The nightmares were something that Feral wass finding he could not escape, now, even he was hearing his name being called and he was being battered around. At least that was how his mind interpreted it. He moaned slightly, head rolling at Amber’s shake. ”Red…why does…all good…have red…?” he muttered, still not aware.

Amber frowned, "Sorry? Captain? You need to wake up!" She raised her voice a little then looked down to Bones, "does he need a medtec? If he does, call one please?" Turning back she reached under his chin and undid the helmet. "Feral!! Can you hear me?"

Bones tweetled to Squirt that the med techs were aware of Feral’s vitals, that the response he’d gotten that since it was probably something that wasn’t physical trauma he’d have to be seen once he was awake and aware.

The voice was becoming more insistent, beginning to draw Feral out of the nightmare. He clung to it, awareness beginning to seep into his consciousness. His eyes fluttered open for a moment, eyes slightly unfocused. ”Oh..no…still…nightmare…but…” he tried to move his arm, reach out toward the haze of red he saw, ”red…again…please…”

Twisting her lips and wondered if it was her he meant? Looking around she saw a rag on the nearby tool trolley and in a matter of seconds she'd retrieved it and tied it over her pulled back ponytail. "Captain?! Wake up!" She urged, shaking his shoulder again, "there's no nightmare, no red...." Although that last bit confused her, it was obvious to her by his words that her hair was some sort of nightmare.

His eyes shot open suddenly, the emotions roiling within him focusing down, his body going rigid. As his eyes finally focused, he slumped back against his cockpit seat. ”Red…” he whispered, ”red saves me again…” he breathed out, his arm finally answering his mind, reaching up, fingers grazing her ponytail.

Amber raised both her eyebrows, her eyes wide as he touched her hair. "Right....." She pulled it away from him, "not saving you Sir, just waking you up from what I think was a nightmare?" The pressure on her mind, the feelings were fading now, like he'd withdrawn them and locked them back up.

As his fuller awareness began to return, Feral blushed slightly, still very weary. ”Nightmares, yes, Amber.” he said with a sigh. ”But…” his eyes drifted from hers, looking at her hair again, ”...but in each, something or someone with that color kept me from death. Every time.” He didn’t understand it but as soon as he’d seen her he’d realized where he’d seen the red in his nightmares before and his mind was now thinking hard why it associated her with being saved.

She reached up and put her hand on the rag on her head, "so I can take this off now?" She asked biting her lip, the smell of the oily rag almost making cringe at the thought of whatever was on it, was now on her hair. "I didn't save you Sir, I just woke you up." She took one step down the ladder, "medtecs are on their way."

Rubbing his face, trying to wake up more, Feral shook his head. ”First, we’re not on a mission…” he said slowly. ”So it’s not Sir. I’d rather you call me whatever feels right. And second, yes, please don’t hide your hair. And…all I can say is that was what did so, in those…” he shuddered, ”nightmares.” He began to unbuckle his harness, managing to slump against the side of the cockpit nearest the ladder.

Pulling the rag off and tossing it back toward the tool trolley she frowned, "hiding my hair did what in your nightmares?" He was more confusing than she'd first thought. "Did you hit your head?" She took another step down the ladder.

Shaking his head, wincing at the motion, he slowly lifted his left arm until he could focus on his chrono. ”No…still woozy. Awake almost two days straight before I passed out.” he mumbled. ”Every nightmare…only ended when someone with something red, hair, armor, whatever, the color of your hair…appeared and saved me.” Slowly he pulled himself up, seeing where she was on the boarding ladder, holding himself in place as he didn’t want to fall on her.

"Oh.....well, lucky for you I guess." She stepped down the ladder and took two steps back, "are you going to be right?"

When she reached the bottom of the ladder and stepped away, he swung himself to plant his feet on the ladder. Slowly descending, he swayed when his feet touched the deck. With one hand holding the ladder to steady himself, he turned to face her. ”Rest, when I can. Real rest, but I cannot get the image of you from my head.” his voice descended into a near whisper by the time he finished speaking. Sudden realization hit him, as he looked from her to the droids, ”Please…please tell me my nightmares didn’t hurt you…”

This was strange, he was acting very strange. She recalled the feelings that had surrounded him when he'd landed, the overly oppressive negative ones but she'd survived so much more in recent times and it was actually nothing more than a bit of pressure on her mind. "I'm fine.....you weren't great, but I coped fine. Image of me? What did I do?" She asked, wondering if he was now seeing something she had yet to do.

He shook his head again, trying to keep his eyes focused, ”By the end…” he blushed again, ”it was not just red but…” he looked back at her, not sure if he could meet her eyes, ”...but you who kept me from never rousing from the nightmares…” He blushed again, swaying, almost falling.

"Wow, I was confused before," she muttered, "Ok..............how the frack did I do that?" She asked, folding her arms defensively, and shifting her weight uncomfortably.

His eyes had shut again, Bones rolling close, almost supporting him as the droid contacted the medbay again. ”It was you, not just red, that came, as the nightmares all merged, that held me, that protected me.” he murmured softly.

She'd done nothing, she knew that, but if he believed she'd done something she had to accept it. His mind seemed somewhat fragile at this point. "Ok, sure, I did that." She looked around, "where are those Medtecs?"

He sighed, only his hand and the pressure from Bones keeping him upright. ”You…I’m…I know it was..in my mind…but…” he began before Bones whistled a short series, ”Two minutes…he says…good…” came out in a whisper before his hand let go and he fell over onto the deck.

She sensed it before it happened and was surging forward to catch him, lowering him to the deck. "I have no idea what's going on here, but you're not right. Stay down." One hand went to her temple, the pressure was coming back. "Stay awake.....can you do that?" Her head flipping left and right, "where are the kriffin' Medtecs!??" Amber hissed. Squirt reiterated the 'two minutes', and Amber shook her head, "too kriffin' long!"

He felt her arms catching him, felt as she guided him to the deck. ”Awake…” he whispered. Trying to lean his head back, his eyes opened, seeing the fuzzy image of her. His hand wavered as it rose, touching hers at her temple, ”Me…?” came out almost inaudibly.

The noise of raised voices near the hangar entrance began to rise over the noise of hangar activity itself. As the noise died down, the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps reached them.

As help arrived and took over, Amber crawled backward, his words and actions going around her head, mixing in with the other dark emotions that seemed to be seeping from his mind. She stayed on her knees, her fingers to her temples, "what do you mean 'you'?" She muttered as she watched the Tec's working on him. Silently she watched as he was loaded onto a hoverbed, and guided away, her eyes glued to the situation the entire time. "What do you mean?"

Feral’s hands moved, as though reaching out to her, as the medtecs worked. Their motion slowed and they finally dropped to his sides, as a sleeping aid was administered and his eyes closed, a murmured, almost plaintive ”Amber…” escaping his lips before the techs took him from the hangar.

Bones’ dome swiveled back and forth, between Squirt, Amber, and Feral. A plaintive whistle escaped and he began to roll after his master. He rocked for a moment, turning his dome to face her again, whistling out a message to Squirt, asking that she not be upset at his master, not again. With that, he turned trundling toward the exit, to follow the medtecs.

She heard her name and the pressure was strong with it, causing Amber to lower her head to her knees. Squirt stood beside her and as Bones 'spoke', his purple dome spinning with an affirmative sound. Amber didn't hear what was said, didn't hear what was being said. Between the pressure and the dark and powerful emotions behind her name, she was unable to focus.

It was only a couple minutes later that Bones sent Squirt a message that the medtecs had Feral to the medbay and were beginning a more thorough examination, although the main diagnosis seemed to be that he’d suffered total exhaustion on the mission from trying to complete it as quickly as possible.

He'd gone, the hangar wasn't empty but no one seemed to notice the young pilot on the deck with her hands on her head. Slowly Amber sat up, her eyes closed as the pressure and emotions ebbing away along with the man who was generating them. Squirt whistled quietly, and she gave a slow nod. "Ok, thank you, so much for finding Jeen." Slowly she got to her feet, "not sure I feel hungry anymore."




TAG @Vehn @TheAdmiral - anyone.

 

IC: Traer Lin - posted with GM approval!

In the chaos of an engagement, it was unlikely he would be noticed, and so he hedged his bets that he could get to his ship and out into space. The recon-X was there, repaired from the spanner-to-the-face it had taken by the techs. Traer pulled a face at that; he could see the scuff marks.

But it wasn't his Bellabub-22, so he wasn't overly bothered.

Incom crap.

But he wanted torpedoes, so he looked for an X-wing, a proper X-wing.

He didn't need an astromech, he could do astrography by hand if need be - old school style - so why not borrow one?

There were plenty of pilots disciplined, or, well, dead.

He grimaced, a little.

The Imperial would be next.

Spies goodbye, he thought, climbing a ladder, and jumping in, pulling the cockpit close and gunning the engines.

He didn't know precisely whose X-wing he had stolen, but he didn't care.

Of course, stealing an X-wing would lean hard into the traitor accusation he was unaware of.

TAG: @Vehn, anyone

 

DOUBLE POST because @Vehn and @Mistress_Renata let me

IC: Maxime "Max" Pallas, Traer "Seppie" Lin
Leaving the Big Eye

Max was maneuvering through the debris field, trying to figure out where Kayn and B-flight had gotten to, when Digger chirped a warning. She glanced down at the controls, and blinked as the transponder showed an X-wing launch from the Intrepid. Identified as NAME?

"Red NAME? Red Two, do you copy?"

"Red Traer," he quipped back, flying the black & purple X-wing up into the fray.

He didn't have a callsign, not now. May as well dispense with it.

"I'm hunting an Imp mole. Don't get in my way, Max."

"What mole? The one I've been hunting for months that everyone claims is a figment of my imagination? If you're flying an X-wing, you're in A-flight and you're under me. Fall in on my five." She did a double take. "Is that Tehanis's bird?"

"Probably," Traer said, lazily. "I may have not been too picky with what I jumped into."

"I don't want too say too much over comms," he drawled, "but someone was shot, while hunting the mole, and I want that mole."

He rolled up to her six, rather than five, but didn't arm any weapons.

"Tell me what you know."

Asking Max meant a distraction from whatever Tehanis was going to do to him...

Max frowned. "I said on my five," she snapped. The hairs on the back of her neck were prickling. Wasn't he supposed to be in the brig? If he was the mole, and thought she suspected...She rolled hard to the right and cut speed, so that he was beside her. "The mole is my assignment, not yours. Return to the Intrepid. That is an order."

"Sure," Traer said, neutrally, heading back towards the Intrepid, but with zero intentions of docking. But he knew Max would be too busy too do much about it any second.

Max was still frowning, watching as he turned the ship back towards the Big Eye. She opened a private channel. "Intrepid Actual, this is Black Sheep Two. Need to report Black Sixteen has an unauthorized launch and has been ordered back to the hangar." She vaguely remembered he was on thin ice as it was. If the Marines didn't deal with him, Tehanis would. She hoped the Marines got to him first.

She turned her head to see if he was continuing to comply when a stream of golden bolts went across the bow and sprayed off her shields. "Seven Hells!" Switching power to full, she turned to face the attackers. "What the--?"

Traer pulled close to the Intrepid's hull, keyed his comlink to open channel. "Traitor to the Black Sheep. I am on to you. Give yourself up, or I'll come to you."

Bluff one.

He itched to help Max and the rest, but... he had to get the traitor. Someone had to.

Max stared at the approaching ships in bewilderment. They weren't Imps. What the hell were they? Before she could contact the Intrepid, another ship roared overhead, the familiar scream of Sienar's twin ion engines and green bolts shot out at the fighter opposite her. She knew what to do about TIEs, but what about these strangers? "Intrepid Actual, Black Two, we got a situation here..."

Traer paused. "Ah, damnit."

He turned Amber's X-wing and used the thrusters at point-blank range on the hull to push him off.

"Coming, Two."

He opened s-foils and targeted the pursuit.

TAG: @Mistress_Renata, @Vehn, @Adalia-Durron, mention for @Sarge

 

OOC: Fun combo with Adalia-Durron and TheAdmiral - HUGE thanks to Bernael for gathering it when this old bag was past her bedtime and couldn't concentrate!!!

IC: Captain Finnefrael “Feral” Ordwgal, Flight Lieutenant Amber Tehanis, Sergeant Sunwalker
Intrepid hangar and medbay

As the Doctor demanded, conversation in the medbay was hushed, kept just loud enough so that the medics and nurses could pass information between them. There were currently two patients, one with physical wounds and one who was being kept sedated. The doctor's team had finally stabilized the one with the physical wounds and the second was now the focus of activity at the moment as the medics could not determine what injuries he had save for deep exhaustion and dehydration. However there were unconfirmed reports that, somehow, this man had been affecting one of the other pilots' mental state when he returned to the Intrepid. Which, the doctor sighed, probably meant more taxation of their already strained mental health doctor.

He walked over to the man's bed, looking down at the patient. He knew the patient's name and vital statistics. He didn't know as much about the man's people other than they were near human. However, he could see that there had to be differences between this patient's people and vanilla humans. For example, he knew the man was 46 but his appearance and his vitals, save for the dehydration and fatigue, were those of a human approximately the same age as most of the pilots of the Black Sheep. There was no evidence though, that he had any Force ability, at least none on record, which made the reports from the hangar about what happened so odd.

The man stirred, the sedative already apparently wearing off even though the techs had administered it in the hangar only about a half hour before, at most. His mouth opened and a dry, dusty whisper came forth. "Why her? Why….red?"

The doctor shook his head at the question. He feared that the answer to it would throw his stable, peaceful medbay into an uproar. Even here they were not immune to the rumors that floated around any ship of the line. He'd heard the nurses talking, had heard one say "Jocelyn is going to shoot him if he keeps talking." Another had responded, "Not if Amber doesn't magically throw him against a wall first."

He knew, having a full crew roster at his disposal, knew who his nurses were discussing. With another sigh, he signaled his aide, a junior doctor. Better to lance a boil than let it fester was always his philosophy. "Contact Flight Lieutenant Tehanis and Sergeant Sunwalker separately and have them report to my office." He ordered. As his junior scurried off to do so he checked on both patients again before striding off to the small office that he was allotted, just next to the medbay, to wait for the two pilots.

Jocelyn was getting ready to launch when she noticed Feral getting back. It felt as if they had been together a moment ago, but had not been able to check her chrono to say exactly how long it had been. She was about to comm him to say something witty when she noticed something wrong. There were medics coming towards the X-wing.

She frowned. That was unusual. "Pause the launching sequence." she instructed her astromech and removed her helmet, her raven hair tied in a neat bun underneath. She pressed the button for the cockpit to open and jumped down. Her knees almost buckled, good thing she had done it before.

There was a surprised yelp from the technicians nearby. Jocelyn was doing something so uncharacteristic. She was disobeying an order, but she cared for Feral very deeply... She even... even... seemed to love him. If she were back in the Empire she would have simply launched!

The medics took Feral in a gurney. Her ankles and knees hurt from her jump, which slowed her down. She ignored queries about what she was doing. She would go to the med bay to see what had happened. She could not join a battle without knowing his status.

The junior doctor, having just gone through the short but extremely annoying few minutes of no power, during a procedure, chose to ask two orderlies to track down the two pilots that the boss had requested. The last place that Flight Lieutenant Tehanis had been seen was the hangar and Sergeant Sunwalker had been in the process of departing to join the fight outside the Intrepid.

The two orderlies, orders in hand, hurried through the ship until they reached the hangar. The job of the first was made easier because he saw one of the women already heading away from her ship. Coming to a halt before her, “Sergeant Sunwalker, the Chief Medical Officer has requested your presence in his office.”

The second, having broken off from the first, headed towards where Captain Ordwgal’s fighter was parked. Thankfully, in his opinion, the one he was seeking was still on the deck by that craft. He found her kneeling and holding her head. “Flight Lieutenant Tehanis, Ma’am, can you hear me? The Chief Medical Officer asked for your presence in his office.”

She had no idea how long she’d been there, her head so full of painful thoughts and memories. They’d eased a little when the man had been taken from the hangar, but the residual pain was still present. She’d lifted her head, noticing not a single being on the hangar had asked her if she was ok, or if she needed help. Then again, what she’d done in the tavern had ripped through the ship, and Amber wasn’t really surprised no one offered to help for fear of what she could do.

Someone was asking for her attention and through the haze she looked up, “huh? Me? Why?” She asked confused. The voice was insistent, so with effort, Amber got to her feet, “lead the way.” She grunted.

Jocelyn did not make it to the corridor before she was approached by two orderlies. At first she thought they might be MPs, she had not registered their uniforms, just the fact that two people were coming towards her so she had assumed that someone was not happy with her refusing to launch and going on a stroll through the hangar. She blinked when she got addressed and simply nodded. Her voice was shaky and she did not want to reveal how worried she was. It was not good that she had been summoned by the Chief Medical Officer. Feral's condition might be critical...

The orderly with Amber, seeing the distress she seemed to under, guided her gently through the hangar, heading down the corridor, “Flight Lieutenant, are you well?” he asked, concern in his voice. So much had been happening recently that he needed to be sure, so that when they reached the Surgeon, he could inform that officer.

Turning on his heel, the orderly with Jocelyn began to exit the hangar, seeing his counterpart departing ahead of him. With the gap, he let it remain, uncertain if they should go together. But the other pair was far enough ahead to make the point moot. His head turned, glancing at Jocelyn, “How much do you know of the condition Captain Ordwgal returned in?”

"No," Amber grunted, it was an honest answer, "so much pain and suffering, I can feel it, its not recent, but it's like a terrifying ghost....and its haunting him....trying to drive him insane." Her hands still on her temples. "When he's awake I can't feel it, but when he's unconscious like now.....it's over powering." It was clear to her that Feral had demons, horrible one's he'd managed to control so long as he was in control.

He wasn't right now and Amber now knew about them.

The orderly nodded, taking a datapad from a pouch at his waist. The Assistant Surgeon had asked for any information that could help so he recorded it to ensure that the Surgeon had it available when they arrived. “The last diagnosis the Surgeon gave was severe dehydration and fatigue, although the psych evaluation has not yet been able to have been done.” he informed her, tone calm and clinical.

Amber shook her head gently, "he won't find it, its not physical, and if he's been out here this long, he's not about to let any psychologist find it. I'm feeling it, through....." everyone knew, or they heard the rumour, "Through the Force." She confessed.

Jocelyn frowned at the question. This sounded pretty ominous! What was the mission he had been sent on!? There was something very off and her heart was beating pretty fast. "No, I just saw the gurney and the medics taking him away. That was why I aborted the launch. Could not fly while I am concerned about him."

Nodding at her response, “Flight logs show that Captain Ordwgal stayed awake for almost a full day and a half, in his latest mission. The reason of his mission is blacked out, for the commander of the Intrepid’s eyes only. But he returned, delirious, dehydrated, and exhausted.” he stated, reviewing the file. “You were requested by the head surgeon, as he has found no physical reason why he’s in the deep state he is.”

Eyes widened, hearing what the Flight Lieutenant had admitted. There were rumors that the redhead could use the Force but the orderly had never seen someone react to someone else’s mental state as she was describing. He tapped what he’d learned into the datapad as they reached the lift, certain the surgeon would want that information. “The Captain,” he pulled up the records, large sections blank from between the Clone Wars and joining the Rebellion, “he has been involved in many conflicts. But, the reason you were requested was that he keeps mentioning you, in his sleep.”

Amber looked up from where she'd been focusing on the floor as he head rolled with emotions, "Me? Why me? I didn't know him before he pulled me off Son Tay....never met him before.....why me?" Not only was her mind swirling with emotions, but now he was claiming to know her, she had never met Feral before that night. Sure, she was a little overwhelmed when an attractive man offered her an escape, and she was taken for a bit, but now? Her focus was on MacKenzie, despite the fact he still wanted to pretend there was nothing, she could feel it, there was more.

The orderly shrugged, “I usually just deal with too strong Marines when they’re thrashing about on the table. You’d have to ask the head Surgeon. And even he might not know, if what you said is correct then it’s something in his mind, not physical.” he admitted.

"It is..........it really is." Amber muttered, with a shake of her head.

Jocelyn listened at what the orderly was telling her. It did not make sense. Feral should be able to withstand such conditions for a day. After all he had experience from SonTay. "Let's hear what the Surgeon has to say." she said cautiously. Best not jump to conclusions.

The orderly nodded as he guided the Sergeant down the hallway. The lift had already gone up with his companion and the Flight Lieutenant so he pressed the stud and waited for it to return. “I’m sure that the Surgeon will sort this, Sergeant, even though nothing physical has been found yet.” He told her as he glanced into the lift tube, nodding at seeing the lift itself descending towards them.

That was strange. Nothing physical. Joy wondered what that could be. Either way she was going to find out soon enough. Hopefully the Surgeon will make more sense and will have more information. She did not like the situation at all. Feral going on a secret mission, then returning and having to be taken to the infirmary right away... There was more going on and that made her very, very nervous.

As the lift finally reached the hangar level, the orderly stepped aboard, with Jocelyn. “I have seen strong beings, or those that appear strong, are often the ones that hold or hide what has once made them weak. And, often, it can be the smallest thing that cracks that shell.” He was considering all that he'd seen and the many pilots that had come through the medbay in the time he’d served on the ship, as he spoke.

On the level of the medbay, the orderly with Amber knocked on the Surgeon’s door. “Come!” was the response and the man opened the door. He gestured, letting Amber enter before he closed it behind her. The Surgeon looked up from a datapad on his desk, “Ahhh, Flight Lieutenant Tehanis, have a seat.” he said, with a gesture at the two seats opposite where he sat. “I have the notes the orderly wrote of your conversation and I must ask, are you sensing Captain Ordwgal right now?”

Her finger tips pressing into her temples, Amber was led and guided to sit down, knowing that she'd not been guided so, she'd be somewhere sitting on the floor holding her head. She looked up at the man, and expression of pain on her face, "what do you think?" She asked, "when he's awake, or sleeping, I can't feel him...unconscious.....you have to wake him up." She said, shutting her eyes tightly as another wave of emotions rolled over her.

“Intriguing.” the Surgeon murmured before reaching over to the call button. Pressing it, the intercom came on, “Attempt to wake Captain Ordwgal, or bring him to a more level sleep level, please.” Receiving an acknowledgement he turned his attention back to the Lieutenant, “This pain he is causing, is it simple pain or are you receiving imagery? I apologize for my curiosity but I do not have as much experience with Force users.”

In the holoscreen on his desk the image of one of the nurses approached the mumbling form of Feral in his bed in the medbay. She injected something into one arm causing him to call out before he began to slowly settle on the bed, the nurse monitoring his vitals.

Jocelyn nodded and followed the man into the elevator. What he was saying was true. Either way she was going to find out soon enough. Joy tried to restrain herself from tapping her foot nervously.

Unable to look up, tears burning her eyes, Amber wasn't in pain, not her per say. "Images, his suffering....the past, so must loss, death." She'd begun to breathe a little heavier, and her balance was being tested, she put her hands on her temples. "Never felt...seen...this before....why now? Why me?" She asked again, she'd never felt anyone's pain like this before, she often knew when people were angry, sad, happy or about to do something but never had anyone's personal images flash through her mind like, and it felt like a lifetime of suffering. They had to wake him up, she couldn't take this for much longer and had no idea how to block it.

Sensing the woman’s impatience, the orderly remained silent, wondering what was normal anymore and why this pilot and the other were the two that the Surgeon had requested. He was low on the totem pole of rank so he simply shrugged, glancing at the display as it flickered past each level. Even though it was only about thirty seconds it felt like a half hour before the lift stopped, on the medbay level. “Almost there, Sergeant.” he said, guiding her toward the Surgeon’s office.

The Surgeon frowned, “So…you are seeing events from his past…hmmm.” He tapped his stylus on the desk, as he thought. Glancing at the holo he could see the Captain stirring some as the shot the nurse had given began to take effect. “When he wakes we can be sure but I must wonder if something happened to him recently that affected his mental state, besides the last mission.”

A knock came at the door, “Enter.” He called out, the door opening and the second orderly ushering in the other pilot he’d requested. “Thank you for joining us Sergeant Sunwalker. Please take a seat beside the Flight Lieutenant.”

The door opened and Amber felt compelled to look at who was coming in. Turning she caught sight of Joy, and a hint of confusion coming from the woman. With no idea why she'd been dragged into this, Amber had no energy to consider Joy's place in this. She knew Feral and Joy were an 'item', but how she fitted into this made no sense as if the man wanted someone to know his thoughts, his memories, his feelings....he'd have told them himself. What she was 'seeing', would not be shared, regardless, it was private in Amber's belief and she'd only talk to Feral himself about them.

Once they arrived Jocelyn stopped in her tracks seeing Amber already there. What was she doing!? Joy clenched her teeth and decided not to say anything before learning more. Amber's presence in relation to Feral made her insecure as she was not sure what was going on between the two. Feeling as if he wanted to be with Amber and was only with Jocelyn out of some sense of duty. She stepped in the room and decided to wait until she was being addressed.

The Surgeon shook his head, feeling the tension in the room that had risen when the Sergeant entered. He glanced at the holo where the Captain’s biorhythms were leveling off, appearing to soon be waking. Returning his attention to the pair before him, he gestured at the empty seat once more. “Sit, Sergeant.” his tone firm. “I was just discussing the Captain with the Flight Lieutenant, what appears to be what is causing his impairment.” His caring yet hard eyes met those of Jocelyn, “Tell me, did anything unusual happen on the mission you and he were on before the one he went out on.”

His gaze swiveled to Amber, “You didn’t have a chance to respond to that before the Sergeant arrived so while she answers I would have you think on what could have impaired him. And, if anything comes to mind, tell me.”

Jocelyn nodded and sat in the offered place. She felt rather stiff. At that moment she looked like an Imperial officer once again. Her face stony and her posture rigid. Looking only at the Surgeon trying not to let her mind wander anywhere she might not like. Besides she had not heard anything yet to indicate what was going on.

She paused for a moment to consider the question. "Everything seemed normal, aside from us pushing our crafts to the limit." she said cautiously "There was a brief encounter with a Wraith or however he called the creature. Maybe his astromech keeps logs of our conversations?"

Amber was so uncomfortable, now with her feelings a mess and being unable to control them, a wash of suspicion and dislike had entered the room. Vaguely she wondered what she'd done to Joy to earn the bitter emotions the woman was exuding. Keeping her eyes down she found the pressure and images easing, 'he must be waking up' she thought, hoped. Choosing to remain silent, she remained silent.

If he’d had a monofilament scalpel the Surgeon could have cut the tension in the air between the two women with it. He listened carefully as the Sergeant spoke, tapping on the keyboard on his desk. A file pulled up, the droid had downloaded his telemetry and data from the mission that the Sergeant had mentioned. There was silence for a time, the only real movement was his eyes as he read the file. They widened as the droid mentioned his sensors picking up a change in the Captain’s brain waves when this creature he saw appeared.

Finally, he glanced up, eyes flicking to the holo, as he saw the Captain stirring more. “Whatever that creature was, Sergeant, when the Captain encountered it, something happened in his mind. I have heard of the creature before but do not know it.” he admitted.

As the Surgeon opened his mouth to speak again, Feral sat bolt upright on the medical bed, the orderlies rushing to attempt to make him lay down as he called out, ”Amber…Joy!!” The Captain’s cry made the Surgeon close his mouth and sigh, apparently there was more here than he knew. Standing, “Both of you, come with me, we need to see what the Captain has to say.”

Amber had been ignoring everything, her pain easing slowly. Then she heard her name, then Joy's. What was going on? She looked up confused, and when ordered to follow she was utterly dismayed as she stood slowly.

Jocelyn was not sure exactly at whom she had been angry. At Amber? The young woman had not done anything directly. At Feral? He seemed drawn to Vixen or maybe she had been reading too much into things. But the fact remained they were both asked to come. Her anger mixed with the confusion and worry over his condition. She barely controlled herself. If only she had not fallen for him, she would have simply flown towards her target, did her job, then maybe get a drink with Lou or just head towards her cabin. Relationships always complicated things and she needed to be back in control.

Then Feral seemed to wake up. Calling them both... That did not help assuage her fears. If it had been simply either one of them, it would have been easier.

Why do men always complicate things!? Jocelyn thought as she stood up to follow Amber.

Standing, swiping a hand across his desk to close everything that was currently open, the Surgeon walked out from behind it, going to a door in the wall opposite the one the Flight Lieutenant and the Sergeant had entered. Turning his head to face both of them, “The Captain is still weak from dehydration and whatever has happened to him. He is my patient and if there are any issues I will ask one or both of you to leave. I have not been able to ignore the tension in the air, which focuses around him.”

Reaching for the door latch, “If he seems out of sorts that is why, disorientation after being so woken. Although, with what may be the issue, he is potentially mentally fragile at the moment, as well.” With that, he opened the door, stepping through, and allowing the two women to enter.

Feral heard the door open, the medbay being mostly quiet otherwise. His head swiveled towards it, blearily looking at the Surgeon before his eyes widened, seeing both Amber and Joy enter. They narrowed again as he focused on the Surgeon, wondering what the man was doing. One hand rose to wipe the sleepiness from his eyes, a weak ”Hello…” directed at the two women. ”What…what happened…?”

Jocelyn looked down, feeling guilty for causing the tension, but she could not help it. Once in the room she tried not to run to his side. Best to leave such theatrics. It was not necessary. Her face softened though as Feral seemed to have woken up. "You tell me." she tried to sound calm, her eyes watering a bit from the worry "You arrived and then I saw you be taken by a gurney!"

Standing close to the door, Amber had one hand to her temple, the 'sounds' and 'feelings' had quietened, and she was able to focus now. Still unsure as to why she was there and what she could do. Joy's suspicions were screaming like flashing red lights at her, and the last thing she wanted to do was cross the former Imperial. He asked what happened, and she was not going to answer that, she wasn't sure herself.

The Surgeon had questions but, with the Captain awake and speaking, he stayed silent, wanting to see how this moment played out. Something about these women, one at least, had triggered something in the Captain and anything that would add data to the report he needed to write about the man’s condition would assist in his treatment.

Feral winced as he shook his head. ”Last thing…” he glanced back and forth between the two women, even exhausted he knew this was a delicate moment. ”...I recall is passing out on the trip back here. There’s flashes of being wakened when I arrived, of someone pulling me out of my fighter, and now I’m here.” he said carefully. ”Something…something has been…” he reached up, fingers rubbing his temples. ”...causing bad dreams, nightmares. But something…” He massaged his temple even more, ”...kept pulling me out of them.”

Emerald green eyes flared wide for a moment but Amber regained her composure quickly. She'd not induced any such dreams for nightmares, she'd not tried to 'pull him out' of anything, all she'd done was suffer with him.

Or had she?

Had something she'd done triggered his agony? Lowering her gaze she tried to find a reason, a trigger, an action that could be traced back to her to blame for this.

She found nothing.

Jocelyn stood there silently, not sure what to make of what Feral was saying. She was not good with the medical mumbo-jumbo, so she could not offer anything. "And how are you feeling now?" was the best she could produce at that moment.

Feral’s eyes flicked over at the Surgeon for a second at the question, before returning to look at Joy, ”I…I’m doing better, just tired.” he said carefully. ”But,” he tried to smile, ”I think I need liquid refreshment, the high test kind, before I rest, to calm whatever fragged my mental defenses.”

One of the Surgeon’s eyebrows rose. The Captain was, technically, correct. He wasn’t physically injured, the dehydration had been treated with fluids, he was still in a state of exhaustion, but he was a doctor of the physical, not of the mental and the Captain’s problem seemed of the latter. “Captain,” he turned his steely eyes toward the Flight Lieutenant and Sergeant, “if one or both of these pilots can assist you I will conditionally release you. But you need a psychological assessment before you will be cleared to return to flight duty.”

Amber could 'feel' Joy didn't want her there, 'feel' the tension and you didn't have to be a Force user to notice. Thinking back she'd noticed him quite clearly when they'd met and even afterwards, feeling an invisible pull toward him, but then Jocelyn happened. The last thing Amber needed was a jealousy filled former Imperial on her six, so she'd simply started to ignore Feral. Till the bar, but that wasn't personal, that was she had a feeling she needed to stop something and she had, that simple, or was it? Holding both hands up defensively she gave her head a shake. "Not me.....I don't even know why I'm here, I just found him." She stated simply, not wanting any part of Joy's potential wrath.

Jocelyn gave Feral a small smile at his attempt at humor, but she was not feeling it. She hoped that she would be able to hold it together long enough. She was not sure how she felt angry, confused, worried, jealous even (though not sure why exactly). She took a peek at Amber, what was the connection between the two of them? Why she felt threatened by her presence in Feral's life? Was it because she felt that Feral was with her only out of some sense of obligation, that he had promised to be with her to her parents? Deep down she feared that he was going to abandon her and she would be alone again.

"I can help him." she said "Though maybe it will be best for him to stay in the medbay for observation?" she looked at the Surgeon.

The Surgeon took in the reactions of the Flight Lieutenant and the Sergeant. His face remained impassive at their actions but, as the Sergeant spoke, he turned to the nurse who had been caring for the Captain directly. One eyebrow arched in a silent question and she nodded. The datapad that was the chart for the Captain’s condition was brought to the Surgeon who silently perused it for several moments.

Tucking it under his arm, he looked back up at the women. “What do either of you know of the near human Lexrullan?” he asked. “Remarkable creatures, longer lived, not many ever evince Force ability, but in this case the feature of their genetics that matters is that they heal rapidly.” He glanced over at Feral, “Now that the dehydration has been reversed, all the Captain needs is sleep.” His eyes flicked over at the Flight Lieutenant, “True sleep, not what you mentioned, Lieutenant. Which would, in my medical opinion, be more likely to happen in a familiar environment, such as his quarters, not the medbay. A medical tag will remain with him so that, if there are complications it will summon the medics to return him here.”

Nodding to the Captain, “I’d prefer that not to happen Captain, so I wish you well.” Turning back to the pair of women, “I would keep him otherwise, for a night of observation but, with this ship and missions, I will probably need the bed soon, for a physical injury. Now, Sergeant, you volunteered, please assist the Captain to his quarters.”

TAGS: @Vehn, @Adalia-Durron (Mentioned), @TheAdmiral (Mentioned), @Sarge, @Rebecca_Daniels, @Sinrebirth, @Mistress_Renata, and everyone else sorry but 10 TAG max so took the first few I saw as well as the GM.

 

OOC: Drops this and scurries away...

Bracca

Togoria, a hyperjump from Bracca

What appeared to be a freighter to the rest of the galaxy decanted from hyper above the world of Togoria, in the Thanos system. For all intents and purposes it was a freighter but it was even more, a floating headquarters for the man now standing on the bridge. He watched as the crew went about their business, ensuring that they had the proper permits and clearances to be in orbit over the world below. He leaned casually against the bulkhead as the crew worked, a slight smile on his face.

He’d received the coded message, turning over the running of other parts of his operations to his staff and employees, then made haste for this world. He did not want to bring the ship into the Bracca system, not yet, as that would disrupt the negotiations that he was sure would occur between the rebel task force and the Scrappers Guild. Those would be sensitive, but from here he could reach his contact with both groups to ensure that the Black Sheep and ancillary units would receive what supplies, equipment, and repairs they needed.

What made the smile falter, though, was that he’d not received a reply to any of the coded messages that had been sent to his contact, an anonymous donor, on board the Intrepid. That being was one who was known for their punctuality, discretion, and discipline so them being out of contact worried the man, aside from the fact that their contact was also family.

He waited until the bustle of the bridge calmed down before he approached the comms station. When the comms officer looked up, she blanched for a moment, having forgotten that the boss was along for this flight, not something he did every time. He smiled at her reassuringly before he handed her a pair of notes. The first read

My friend,

I am one hyper jump from the location that you asked that I soften for you and your people. The agreements have been made but there will, most likely, still be some negotiations necessary. However, why you have not responded is beginning to worry me, as well as the others. I ask that you respond as soon as practicable so that we may be reassured you yet live.

Always,

Your Faithful Friend

He waited for the message to have the appropriate codes for the time, location, and date to be used and then sent before he looked down at the other message. Nodding, he let the comms officer work on that message as well, which read.

The requested funds have been transferred to the Scrappers Guild accounts in the Galactic Bank. None can be traced to you or to me. I recognize that the Guild Master may attempt to further negotiate but I ask you, as your friend, to minimize such negotiations. The fleet is en route to you now and the more swiftly they receive what they need, in regards to repairs, refits, and equipment, the sooner they are away. This will be beneficial to you both as it will keep interference from the Empire to the minimum. I am sure neither you or I desire that the Empire begins to probe your activities there as I would hate to have to find another organization that can swiftly take goods from the active galactic inventory, make them disappear, and send them where they are needed. And I’m sure your organization does not want to lose my business this way.

Your Friend

When the second message was coded and sent he patted the comms officer on the shoulder, walking away. Stopping by the Captain, he informed the man to notify him if any messages were received, to be sent to his cabin. With that, he stepped off the bridge, the hatch shutting behind him.

TAGS: @Vehn, @Mistress_Renata, @Sarge, @Adalia-Durron, @Rebecca_Daniels, @TheAdmiral, @Sinrebirth, @Mitth_Fisto