((writers note: .. ugh... 7 days a week as an essential worker means Rezikai didnt proofread this chapter... typos and run on sentences galore! ... however i'll be posting some rough test pics of this story as a photonovel w/no backgrounds and such in the next few days.))
Over planet Aranae
The tri-winged silhouette of a tyderium shuttle flew through the northern edges of the great red mist cloud that had until a few minutes earlier been giving sufficient cloud cover for the majority of the continent. It was Imperial Army officer Major Gridon's luck that it had thinned and started to dissipate as his rendezvous was going to take place. He leaned over the controls and gave instruction to the younger man in an imperial naval trooper uniform to land at the coordinates he dictated.
Gridon's shuttle came to rest at a small clearing on the northeastern section of the main continent. The thick forest treeline was close enough to give most casual scanner observers a few extra seconds of coverage before they could be seen from a low orbit. If any rebel or imperial ships happened to pinpoint the area from atmosphere the vantage point would give them clear site of the clearing. But that far away mean Gridon would have time to escape. Not that he assumed the rebels nor imperials would waste resources for a perceived rogue angry imperial army officer that fled his post. No that was the ruse he had kept up this whole time. The gruff exterior and overbearing way aura to keep up his deception of an army officer disgruntled by a younger and less experienced leader taking his rightful command over him. Nothing could be further from the truth however. Gridon got high enough for influence but made sure not to allow too many victories or chances for imperial glory to be grasped as to keep his position safe.
A few moments later a battered Koensayer Y-Wing was spotted on his ships sensors and a few moments later it came to rest itself in the same small clearing nose to nose with Gridon's shuttle. Girdon adjusted his uniform and he and the younger man walked out of the cockpit into the crew area where the bodies of the imperial stormtroopers and the other imperial naval trooper assigned to the young escort now with Gridon laid. Gridon didn't give the bodies of the imperials a second thought. He had no love for imperials and their usefulness to his escape plan had given his apprentice a chance to make his escape with him. Gridon shot a glance back a the younger man in the naval uniform also stepping over the armored troopers. When these imperials had outlived their usefulness they were terminated as all who learn too much of FOCI must be. That thought made the image of Araed, and how she had overplayed her hand in hinting she knew what Gridon's true motives were. “Foolish woman.” Gridon thought to himself as the tyderium's exit ramp lowered and he started to descend.
From across the nose of the imperial shuttle the pilot of the Y-wing watched the imperial vessel's “mouth” open with the disembark ramp lower. A second later a pair of humans in imperial uniforms stepped down the ramp. The rebel pilot slowly disengaged his cockpit's canopy and opened it to one side. The Mon Calamari pilot was Commander Vorm and he let his large squid-like eyes half close as his as a dubious expression came over his face. Vorm had his doubts about this mission, in fact he had thought this entire venture a fools errand but it was Captain Barrax's orders and he trusted Barrax serving with the Captain for a few years now.
As the pair of imperials stopped at the bottom of their shuttles' ramp Vorm stood up in his cockpit. Vorm hadn't expected there to be two of them. The backseat of his Y-wing could carry a sole passenger and that was for his contact FOCI. Vorm was given his description just hours earlier while in the makeshift flight area of the Riptides crashed material. He thought the idea of picking up an imperial ludicrous considering the situation the Riptide's crew was put into but he knew Barrax wouldn't have dissension among pilots not wanting to contradict orders even in these extremely taxing situations. “Your the pick up?” Vorm projected his Mon Calamari voice as he watched the pair of humans. He directed his large squid like features at Gridon who was in front of the younger man. From below and in front of the nose of the Y-wing the older man with dark hair and a white stripe in the front gave a barked reply towards Vorm.
“I am Major Gridon, that's correct.” Gridon replied his voice back to the harsh tone he used when keeping up his persona. Gridon looked over the Mon Calamari and wasn't thrilled with sharing a cockpit with a rebel let alone the backseat of a slow bomber trying to make its way back to rebel controlled skies. He mentally gave himself a pat on the back for bringing the shuttle and his apprentice along. Vorm gave a nod towards the older of the pair of imperials and gave a half wave with his right webbed hand towards his backseat of his fighter. Gridon raised his hand while shaking his head. “No need, we'll bring the shuttle with us. Just let your Captain Barrax was it? Let him know the shuttle is designated friendly.” Vorms half lowered lids on his large fishlike eyes opened and dropped half shut again. This FOCI knew of Captain Barrax but seemed to not have any appreciation in his tone for the Captain who set up this whole rendezvous for this FOCI's rescue. “That's fine.” Vorm agreed. Vorm knew he'd get an ear full from the Captain for not demanding the target come in his fighter securely but given the extreme circumstances he assumed the Captain will let it slide. By now the pair of humans were standing in the space between the pair of vessels. The rebel Y-wing facing them and the imperial shuttle at their back. “Also my friend here comes along, he's my protege.” Gridon finished. Vorm only had orders for the Major and couldn't care less if the other imperial wanted to defect to be with his mentor. Vorm gave a quick nod and replied “As long as he keeps this to himself. Vorm demanded in a slightly more aggressive tone. Gridon seemed to have a half second of thought before turning back to the younger man in the all black naval trooper uniform and spoke “We'll follow him in on his tail. After that we'll continue with our plans on where to go.” Gridon finished saying towards the younger man nodding at Gridon's statement. Gridon turned and started to tell Vorm the his plan to guide them into the rebel ships position.
A moment later a rustle from the treeline caught the attention of the Vorm and the younger naval trooper. Gridon was too busy giving instructions to Vorm as he nodded agreeing to whatever this mole wanted as long as it doesn't compromise what happened in today's morning. Vorm turned away from the rustle in the treeline just as a large white streak flew across the the y-wing. Vorm ducked down away from the incoming streak as his training to dodge laser fire in combat kicked in. The white streak of webbing shot over the y-wing and landed on the ground in a pile of goo. Gridon and the naval trooper turned towards the treeline as the naval trooper drew his weapon as he and Gridon hunkered over to look for some kind of cover as if they may be coming under ground fire. A second later the large dark form of an arachnids legs and body came to the edge of the treeline hissing in a shriek as another long white shot of webbing shot at the pair of imperials.
Within the next few seconds of the missed webbing Vorm ducked to avoid he sat back up in his cockpit and started up the launch sequence letting the hum of the Y-wings engine come on. Gridon avoided the second shot from the arachnid and ran towards the shuttle ramp to stop short as another white shot of webbing goo hit the bottom of the loading ramp less then a meter in front of Gridon. The beast had anticipated him fleeing up the ramp. Gridon turned to see a pair of red bolts of laser fire launch from his naval trooper apprentice striking the arachnid beast. Gridon turned away from the ramp and ran towards the Y-wing.
Vorm had completed the start up sequence as Gridon jumped up the the Y-wings body using the engine nacelle to climb up on the Y-wings cocktpit and jumped into the backseat with Vorm who was closing the canopy to the fighter as it lifted off the ground. The next second the another shot of webbing stretched out towards the Y-wing and landed on the side of the cockpit fuselage. Vorm turned seeing the white sticky mess on his port side “Bah.. dam thing!” Vorm cursed as Gridon settled into the rear seat he shouted looking at the same white webbing “Just kill it and get us on our way!” Gridon barked. Vorm ruffled his mouth at his disgust being shouted at by an imperial but he also had planned to shoot off this animal whatever it was Vorm thought. While the webbing tried to pull on the Y-wing Vorm banked it to it's port side and turned the fighter's nose guns towards the arachnid still mostly hidden in the shadow of the treeline. Vorm opened up at the shadowy area the arachnid had shot the webbing from. The laser shots landed in the shadows and the tree trunks of the treeline catching a few of them on fire after leaving dark score marks. A second later a hard lurch jerked the Y-wing surprising both Vorm and Gridon “Ah!” Gridon shouted as the cockpit rocked from the unseen tether pulling on the white webbing. Vorm turned the fighters guns towards the white and fired burning through it after a few shots. Another shot of webbing lashed out from the shadows of the treeline this time landing on the nose of the Y-wing covering one of the guns. Unlike the previous shots of webbing this one was more of a glob without the rope of web attached to it leading back to the treeline. Vorm cursed again “Damn thing is persistent!” He shouted. Gridon turned to see the second blast of webbing covering half the nose of the Y-wing and exclaimed “Forget the indigs, just get us airborne.” He huffed.
A moment later Gridon remembered his apprentice on the ground and turned his vision to see the Naval trooper leaping over the patch of webbing at the base of the shuttle's ramp and head up into it. “Good.” Gridon mumbled when another shot of webbing came from the treeline this time from a different position hitting the side of the cockpit with a WUMP! Gridon gave a scared and surprised cry “Ah!” as it landed and Vorm turned to his starboard side unsure if it was a new target or the same that had moved. This clump of webbing was much like the first with the long rope of white goo leading back to the treeline becoming taught and pulling against the cockpit. Like before Vorm banked the Y-wing to the right this time and opened fire on the white rope of goo but this time only one of the front nose guns opened fire. The starboard side burned and overloaded being covered in webbing from the earlier shot. “This is getting troublesome!” Vorm exclaimed and then fired the singe nose gun into the rope of webbing and after several shots he burned through it. Vorm decided to raise the Y-wing higher in the air as another shot of webbing just missed the undercarriage of the Y-wing. “We'll head out.” Vorm shouted back towards Gridon. Gridon had his vision locked on the imperial shuttle that had closed it's walk ramp a few moments earlier as the Y-wing had lifted up out of arachnid's range and now started to lift off. “We will guide in my assistant.” Gridon said. Vorm gave a half audible huff and had started to comment on the shuttle staying with them when suddenly a pair of the huge arachnids leaped from the treeline and landed on the shuttle as it tried to take off. “Stang!” Vorm cried out nodding at the shuttle. “Too slow to take off.” Was all Gridon said as the pair of arachnids started to tear into the hull of the shuttle. A second later Vorm turned the Y-wing towards the shuttle as the pair of craft lifted higher into the air. “I can try and blast them off.” Vorm said turning his squid like head towards Gridon. “No. He has to learn to take care of himself.” Was Gridon's reply. Vorm found the other mans composure cold. Vorm waited a second as he was a bit taken aback at Gridon's words but then turned to his controls and banked the Y-wing away from the shuttle “Fine.” Was the only reply Vorm gave to Gridon as their fighter pulled away from the area still drapped in the sticky white webbing.
A moment later the imperial shuttle was struggling to lift off started shuttered. In the cockpit the young imperial sat at the controls trying to steady the craft as he turned the nose of the shuttle skyward. As the view of the treeline started to raise away the dark long legs of one of the arachnids clattered over the roof of the shuttle and then slide down the nose as it screeched and started tearing into the shuttles nose. Gridon's assistant frantically banked the shuttle over to its side quickly and watched the arachnid fall back to the ground with a half bounce and skitter in a circle below the shuttle as it did more screeching from the other arachnid on the back of the shuttle started ripping into the dorsal fin of the shuttle hanging on by impaling the sharp ends of its legs through the shuttles dorsal fin and started shooting more webbing onto the shuttles body to keep attached to it. The young man at the controls tried to rise and fall to shake the beast loose but the shuttle wasn't designed to make quick radical moves while in atmosphere and the maneuver started to shutter the shuttles hull and fins. Gridon's assistant cursed under his breathe trying to keep the shuttle from spinning out of control as he flew away form the landing area now over the trees. A moment later another loud screech came from the arachnid on the shuttle's hull as the sound of more ripping metal came from the top of the shuttles hull. The young imperial was in a near panic as he flicked switches and clicked buttons to spin the shuttle more to shake the arachnid free. The young man was mid motion flipping switches when a blue arc of light filled the cockpit.
As the arachnid clung to the shuttles hull screeching and tearing into the outer hull when the shuttle slowly rotated over exposing its underbelly to the sky. The arachnid holding onto the dorsal fin started to claw its way up to the body of the shuttle. It was midway up the dorsal fin when the shuttle sped up and dipped hard into the treetops smashing its fins into the treetops raking the arachnid into the trees it screeched as it struggled to hang onto the dorsal fin but after a few seconds enough treetops tore into the beast and it pulled free of the shuttle and jumped into the trees. A second later the shuttle lifted itself from the treetops still upside down and slowly rotated itself right side up as it continued upwards heading up into the lower atmosphere passing into the reddish white cloud that was slowly starting to dissipate.
Millennium Falcon crash site.
Almost half an hour had passed since the Falcon fell into the trees and skidded into the shallow creek and rested half sank into the water and Solo had come outside to see the arrow head shaped imperial ship in low orbit. Most of the Riptide's survivors were standing on the bank of the small river watching the large wookiee Chewbacca kneeling on top of the rear quarter of the YT-1300 pulling off panels and working on the internal workings of the Falcon. The landing ramp was lowered and half sank into the the creeks water. Standing in the water was a tall Corellian man with his hands on his hips and a disgusted look on his face. “Well how bad is it?” Han Solo shouted up to Chewy. A pair of short controlled roars from Chewbacca was the reply the wookiee gave without looking up from the opened maintenance panel.
In the cockpit of the Falcon Lando Calrissian sat in the pilot seat clicking buttons on and off. Lando flipped a switch and talked into the mic on the control panel. “That's the one Chewy.” Lando said testing the control panel. A moment later Han entered the cockpit tracking in water and sitting in the copilot seat with an annoyed expression. “It's not as bad as we thought at least.” Lando said trying to ease the tension. Han gave a huff and exhaled “We need to get airborne before any of those things decide to come after us.” Han said in a short dejected tone. Lando gave a nod and looked out the cockpit behind the Falcon to see the small group of Mon Calamari's on the bank of the creek.
On the creek bank Tarris and the other about a dozen other Mon Cala's dipped their webbed hands and feet into the water basting each other in the clear liquid hydrating their skin and pours of their fish like bodies. A sudden blur of movement in the distance was caught by one of the Mon cala pouring water over his face and he backed up from the water towards the hull of the Falcon. A second later the rest of the group wadding in the river took notice of a shape trudging along the riverbank in the distance. After a few moments of tense silence Lt. Tarris noticed the curious figure moving towards their group and called out “Identify yourself!” she yelped as she took a few steps backward towards the Falcon with the rest of the mon calamari's as a of officers force from the Riptide pulled their water logged blasters. In the distance the figure slowly took form at first the shape was odd, it was larger then a humanoid but not as large as the arachnid beasts. The figure slowly started to separate into two distinct figures both seemingly humanoid in shape. After a few moments a female voice called out “Friendlies!” Tarris gave a slight sigh of relief and trudged along the riverbank towards the figures. Two of the other half dozen remaining Mon Cala wadding in the river came with Tarris both being the security forces with the blasters.
As the figures came closer the distinct shapes of a man and a woman came into view. The man a blonde haired human was in the lead walking more measured steps with his black uniform easily identifying him as an imperial tie pilot. The woman walking behind him was slightly taller and also blonde wearing her green and white flight suit from her A-wing. They came closer still as the woman spoke up aloud and projecting her voice so the mon Cala's could hear “Lt. Aerrel Tritan. From Dryce's Deck.” Tarris took the other woman's words with a measured trust and called back as they both came closer to the Falcon “Lieutenant what was your designate and your co-pilot's designate?” Tarris said letting the ruse slip between the sentence. If this was Tritan she'd pick up on it easily. As the pair of blonde humans came closer to the mon cala's Triton spoke up loudly “There was no copilot of course, we Ace flyers are solo jobs, but I was the SPEAR and my wing-man was LONGSPEAR.” Triton said confidently. Tarris's fish-like mouth smiled wide and she and the other pair of Riptide officers rushed over to the pair. The two security officers keeping their blasters trained on the imperial while Tarris ran up to Tritan and gave her a squeezing hug. “We thought you were dead!” Tarris exclaimed. Tritan nodded and wiggled free from Tarris' hug replying “I almost was, this one here was nearly the end of me. But he was a bit fresh in grav-couch.” Tritan teased as she lifted the nuzzle of her blaster pointing it at the imperial pilot's back. Tarris gave a frown towards the blonde imperial pilot standing there with his hands now in the air as the pair of mon cala security picked over his flight-suit. “He'll pay for his crimes.” she said to Tritan. Aerrel nodded “He's got quite a fury in him but he's went silent since I captured him.” Tarris let her fishlike eyelids half close over her eyes “He was talking to you prior?” Tritan shook her head “No, more like demanding, pointing a blaster in my face and screaming about something.” Tritan finished and put the nuzzle in the imperial's back. “We'll take him from here Lieutenant.” One of the mon calamari officers said and marched Lt. Vanders away and behind the Falcon. Tarris and Tritan closely followed behind as Tritan greeted the rest of the survivor's from the Riptide at the base of the Falcon's loading ramp.
Tritan and Tarris chatted a few moments about the current status of the Falcon's repair work and offered to help. Tarris waded into the creek and waved a webbed hand up at the Falcon's cockpit where Han and Lando were working on the Falcon's systems. “General Solo! The Lieutenant would like to assist in the repairs. Solo waved back from behind the Falcon's segmented cockpit windows and waved the pair to come up.
Inside the cockpit Han and and mon calamari technician worked with some tools on open control panels in the rear of the Falcon's cockpit. Lando sat in the pilot seat clicking buttons and switches and talked into the intercom “That's it for that one Chewie.” Aerrel and Tarris strode up to the rear entrance of the cockpit and gave a nod to Han who was twisting a few wires together. “General, the Lieutenant just dropped off a prisoner and wants to help with repairs and we're wanting to help.” Han didn't turn to them right away cursing under his breath as a small spark of electricity popped as he finished connecting some of the wiring he was working on “Fine, one of you get in the top gun turret just in case our large legged friends come to finish us off. I figured we'd be in the air by now.” he grumbled. “I told ya this was worse then you thought.” Lando grumbled back from the pilot seat without looking back. A look of annoyance came across Han's face as he turned finally facing the Mon calamari officer and the human A-wing pilot offering assistance. “You two can decide who gets in the gun turret the other put the prisoner out somewhere out of the way. Then help the techs get the deck plates and inner hull panels space worthy in the rear quarter of the Falcon.” After explaining the prisoner was already taken away to an isolated area outside the Falcon to which Han nodded and continued working on the control panels. Aerrel and Tarris both nodded in reply and turned deciding who was going to take what. Aerrel decided to help the other mon calamari techs welding the internal hull plates near the commons area of the Falcon while Tarris decided to post up inside the top gun turret.
ICC Slipstream...
Deep in the Slipstream's decks Lieutenant Klavine strode the corridor's passing imperial technicians and the occasional stormtrooper. His Grey uniform and black cap given to him from Admiral Sequa let him fit into the aesthetic of the crew easily enough. Though some of of the officers did take a quick glance at his face as if trying to place a name to go with him as if he were a recent transfer to the crew they hadn't been made aware of. Klavine had been in his tiny quarters and went over his data pad given to him by the Imperial Admiral before being escorted to said quarters. The data pad had a few bits of information regarding imperial munitions movements and a message popped up after a few minutes on it.
[[[Once settled head to the flight bay and take inventory of all spacecraft and select one of the smaller hyperspace able shuttles for your use. Then return to your quarters and give your findings with the data cylinder to one of the stormtroopers that will be sent to your quarters once you've returned. -S ]]]
“Awfully confident”. Klavine thought to himself as the image of Sequa's smiling face appeared in his mind. Maybe he should just take one of the craft hyperspace ready and run. Klavine cracked a small smile then it faded when he remembered as soon as he cleared the bay or maybe even before the Slipstreams gravity wells would snatch him up. “Fine.” He thought to himself “I'll see where this little game leads.”. So Klavine was on his way to the flight bays. A few times along the way he almost thought about torching this old man's plan and taking his A-wing back and running for the planet if he couldn't jump from the system. He contemplated the idea a few times until he reach the flight bay of the Slipstream that dashed those hopes in a instant as he saw flight crews and maintenance workers readying the ties on the interdcitor cruiser for launch.
Klavine looked down into his datapad trying to act as natural as any of the other techs in the large hangar bay. He slowly made his way to his A-wing and his rebellious ambitions were dashed seeing the maintenance crews had been tearing into his A-wings cockpit and had strewn wiring and circuit boards about the A-wings cockpit as the covers to the control panels were laid on and around the small fighter's hull. Klavine gave a defeated sigh and looked at his data pad again and decided to think about Sequa's offer in earnest this time. Perhaps the old man anticipated Klavine's escapist line of thinking and be part of the mythical FOCI organization he claimed. FOCI was a cryptic word used by admiral's and generals to give weight a strategy or information gathered. For years Klavine thought the organization didn't really exist. Yet this Imperial admiral had claimed to be part of it. A more sinister thought crossed Klavine's mind as the image of Sequa revealing his association and offer to join FOCI so casually. The sentence the imperial admiral used about using the imperial's as tools echoed in Klavine's mind and he looked down at the gray imperial tech suit he wore. Klavine gritted his teeth and continued to take visual note of the hangar as maintenance and ordinance crews on elevated platforms worked on touch ups on the tie fighters hanging in their racks.
A few minutes in the crews started to scatter and move around as if something had changed. Klavine didn't bother to care what it was, he was more interested in getting off this imperial ship as fast as he could. A few moments later he came across a trio of shuttles tucked into the far rear corner of the hangar bay. Klavine gave a confident stride over to them looking at the data pad and pretending to make entries on it as he approached them to sell his charade to any casual onlookers. As Klavine got closer another gray clad technician came from around the body of the closest shuttle and gave a half nod as if acknowledging a fellow tech. Klavine returned the nod as he drew closer and pretended to punch a few more entries into his data pad. Klavine looked over the trio of shuttles parked corner of the hangar. One was a Lambda T-4 a shuttle polished and cleaned to imperial specs. Its black transparasteel view port polished to a black fine reflective finish. Klavine assumed that would be Sequa's personal vessel. Adjacent to Sequa's shuttle were a pair of score marked and rugged worn looking Sentinel shuttles.
Klavine assumed Sequa intended him to take choose the flashy command shuttle but Klavine knew that would be too expected. Not that Klavine expected himself to steal and escape successfully with any of the shuttles at the moment just chose one for later use. Klavine looked over the pair of Sentinel shuttles remembering to occasionally pause and punch in some imaginary data on the pad. Both shuttles had seen action with its carbon scoring and repaired hull welds showing. Klavine opened the boarding ramp to the first shuttle and looked inside seeing the seating for troops in the rear area looking in adequate condition. He went to the cockpit and tested some of the internal low power tests but not starting up the shuttle and garnering any unneeded attention. Klavine left the shuttle and closed it's ramp and went to the second Sentinel and inspected it as well.
Inside the troop area had many of its seats removed and maintenance equipment where they had been. Around the internal hull control panels and sidewalls were removed with bits of wiring frayed and exposed with their panels left open. Klavine went to the cock pit and tested the power and like the first showed it was ready to power up if needed for a dust off. Klavine gave a smirk of approval then turned and left the Sentinel and closed its ramp deciding this was the best to use as an escape vehicle of the three shuttles. After some fake data pad entry to any onlookers Klavine noticed something had changed in the minutes since he started inspecting the shuttles. The technicians and maintenance crews were rushing around in double quick time as they finished spot checks put away energizer stands as they hustled back and forth over platforms along with pilots scrambling to get back into their cockpits. The increased activity started raising internal concerns in Klavine's mind and he decided not to get caught up by any techs that in a rush noticed he wasn't. After another quick moment Klavine decided to leave the hangar in a quickened step as to avoid any unwanted attention as he strode out of the hangar with his datapad unsure of what the correct course of action would be. A quick moment dodging other technicians in the corridors of the Slipstream he decided to humor Sequa with his request. Perhaps instead of blasting his way out of the ship Sequa was serious about his offer or at least serious enough to allow Klavine to use the Sentinel with it's interior torn apart to leave this imperial ship and return to the Rebellion.
Commander Faraday barked orders at her crew pits as the reddish white clouds dissipated. Strangely enough as the cloud cover giving the Slipstream its hidden position dissipated it seemed to sink lower into the planets atmosphere near the top of the forests treetops and seemed to coalesce into a much smaller condensed form of its original self. Faraday gritted her teeth as her eyes were affixed on the forward view port at the small bright illumination of the engines of the Rebel frigate and the danger it posed. “Status!” she barked at an officer in the starboard crewpit. A young dark haired officer in his grey-green uniform looked up replying “It's seen us, sensors swept over us 2 minutes ago our scans say.” Faraday's expression went from annoyance to slight frustration “Are the crews still at the ready?” she said back to the port crewpit. An older red haired female officer in a black uniform and cap replied “Still at the ready Commander ready to launch.” Faraday sucked in air between her teeth. She wanted to launch fighters immediately and attack the frigate but doing so meant the rebel ship would call back their fighters and shuttles currently moving their people from the surface crash. More then likely they'll wait until they have all their people aboard before going hostile she thought to herself.
Faraday gave a wince and started to ask something when a technician called over to the scanner officer loud enough that Faraday could hear “What is it?” she called out. The young man in the gray-green uniform looked up from the technicians read out “A new signal from the edge of the system moving in fast. It's signature reads as a rebel fighter X-wing class.” the officer finished. “A rear sentry perhaps.” Faraday said aloud. “Keep an eye on it while we prepare defensive measures.” Faraday finished. The officers in the crew pits acknowledged but the sense of dread was worn openly on their faces. Faraday knew they took a beating a day and a half ago and didn't want to get into a battle so soon again. “Too bad.” she said to herself under her breathe. Her brother was on the Kumo and dead or alive she'll be taking him back.
Red Squadron...
With the horizon of the planet quickly descending below his X-wing rebel pilot and red-leader Wedge Antilles ascended into the lower atmosphere to make sure his transmissions were received without interference. The image of the arrow headed interdictor cruiser lighting up on his cockpit scanner readings meant that the entire situation has changed drastically. “This is Red Leader to Harken's Threat, do you read?” Wedge said as he held down the transmission button in his cockpit. A moment later a crackle through his cockpit's speaker came through with the voice of the Harken's captain. “We read you Red Leader. Things have gotten serious up here.” He replied. “So I read, any trouble from our new friend yet?” Wedge replied anxiously. Captain Jogen's voice returned through the speaker “Not yet, but considering they've been here a while they might have not expected to be found out so quickly.”
The words sat there a half second and just as Wedge was about to reply a new voice came in through his receiver “Ya know Wedge, we can go do a fly by and see if they'll take a shot at us.” the familiar voice of Luke Skylwalker filled Wedge's ears. “Luke! Glad to have you with us boss!” Wedge replied excitedly as a smile started to creep across his face “Wedge, I just made it in-system. Captain Jogen said you were covering shuttles with the survivor's? Were Han and the others with you?” Wedge's demeanor clouded slightly, “We got as many as we could before these beasts attacked us. They were spider-like and very tough even for our cannons.” Wedge held the breathe a second before continuing “A few of them pounced on Generals Solo and Calrissian and brought the Falcon down in the forest in the middle of the continent.” Less then a second after finishing his words Luke blurted in “Are they hurt?” Wedge gave a half breathe as he replied “As far as we heard no, General Solo said they fought the beasts off but the Falcon took damage and has to be repaired before she's space worthy again. Hopefully he can hold out.” Wedge finished the words and waited for a reply which came almost instantly “He can, he's a pretty good card player.” Luke said with a smirk across his face and continued “Wedge after you ferry the last of the survivor's to the frigate form up a sentry line around it but hold some of your fighters back to engage if needed we're going to take a look at that drag ship.”
Luke finished speaking as Wedge's voice crackled back through the com-channel “I'll have them up and ready in less then a 10 minutes.” Wedge said with anxiousness in his voice. Luke held onto Wedge's words a moment before gritting his teeth and opening his comm again. “Send me the coordinates your fighters saw the Falcon go down at I'll see if I can get Han a hand.” Wedge nodded in his cockpit towards his comm speaker as he replied “Sending them now Luke.” Wedge replied and punched the navi-computers buttons on his control panels as he transmitted the information to Artoo inside Luke's X-wing. A moment later Luke's X-wing dashed downwards towards the forested center of the planet below them as Wedge turned his attention back up towards the shuttles and fighters heading back to the frigate.
Harken's Threat bridge...
Captain Jorgen turned to the communications officer a young human man in his standard rebel naval uniform and replied to him with a questioning tone “Are you sure?” The young man at the communications station nodded as he replied “Yes sir, they haven't activated their grav-wells yet but they are jamming all but short range transmissions. Captain Jorgen rubbed a hand over his layered skin mouth his Bith race was distinct for having. “Something about this doesn't add up. They know we've been here and now that they're found out they sit there?” He turned to the human man with dark hair in a rebel uniform standing next to a holo-table. “Perhaps they were damaged during the fight at Endor a few days ago and weren't able to make repairs to their gravity wells.” Was the reply of the Harken Threat's first officer. “Hmmm possible but unlikely, why come out to this nearly unknown system. Why not a shipyard or repair station to get repp'd and refitted?” Jorgen said as he turned back to a clear navi-display attached to a small bench and table at the side of the bridge. A second later he turned back to the first officer “Let's get our fighters up here immediately.” Jorgen finished.
Interdictor Slipstream Bridge...
“THIS IS INSANE! Not only does it border on treason! It's going to get us all killed!” Was the bark of protest from Commander Farday towards the Slipstreams commanding officer, Admiral Sequa. It was notable that the Admiral was again on the bridge. An unusual fact the bridge crew in their pits and consoles had taken notice of. Only in times of extreme importance did Admiral Sequa bless them with multiple visits in the same rotation. Commander Faraday's protest was heard throughout the bridge over the heads of the technicians and gunners putting their heads down and dared not be caught looking up at the Faraday face to face with Sequa on the command walkway. “Plans or not that ship has to be disabled or they'll bring more rebel ships and we wont be able to outrun nor outgun them all.” Faraday said her brow furrowed in discontent at the gray bearded Sequa. Sequa to his credit didn't interrupt her during her emotional outburst even though he had the rank and the wish to. “I understand your concerns Commander and they are noted however a more pressing matter is upon us.”
Sequa let the conversation die there and thought of a few minutes prior to Lieutenant Klavine being escorted back to meet him and telling him the gutted Lambda shuttle was his choice. Sequa gave the younger man a pair of datapads to be read in-transit and he was to take the shuttle out of the system immediately. As Sequa's words cleared away one of the communications technicians spoke up “Admiral, we have an incoming transmission.” Sequa turned to the middle aged man with brown hair “From the rebels?” Sequa scoffed. “No sir, an imperial code.” The man replied punching buttons on his console. Sequa gritted his teeth would Klavine be as obnoxious enough to out himself now that he's just gotten back to the lambda shuttle? Sequa wondered. “What's the source?” Sequa said in a slightly authoritarian tone. The technician looked up at the admiral “It's from Captain Kai, sir. He apparently survived the Kumo's crash.”. Sequa gave a half frown before replying “Put him through...” He said nonchalantly. A moment later the crackle of a microphoned voice came through the console as Sequa stood over the man overlooking him from the command walkway. “--aday, listen! He's alive. He's hurt but alive. If you have any compliment of fighters ready them I'll have mine sky bound in less then 5 minutes. Wait for my signal then launch. Don't make a hostile move against the rebel ships yet until we're skyborne.” The hastened voice of Captiain Kai said coming through the comm-channel. Sequa simply pointed at the communications officer with a finger and nodded giving him the signal to open a channel to reply. Faraday who was a moment ago angered by the unwillingness by the Admiral to engage the rebel ship walked over to Sequa with a half apologetic glance and because she wanted to listen to Kai's words. “Admiral Sequa here Capain. We're going to be activating the gravity wells in a few moments we can't allow any of them to leave the system and bring reinforcements. You'll have to join the fray afterwards.” Sequa finished. The words sat for a second before Kai's voice cracked back “Wait until the last second if you can Admiral. The crashed rebel ship had fighters and crews up and flight worthy along with whatever else they've brought into the system.” Kai finished.
Sequa winced. The rebel frigate and fighters were going to be a challenge for the Slipstreams fighters and crew as is, if they have additional support from the planet this will quickly turn into a real scrap against the rebels. Sequa pointed again at the communications officer who nodded and opened the mic “Move quickly Captain.” was all that Sequa replied. Faraday stood behind him gritting her teeth. Kai had said “he was hurt” did he mean her brother? Did he know that much about him. Her mind raced if they attacked the battle would be difficult if they waited the rebels were sure to bring additional reinforcements. Her thoughts were cut off by one of the flight officers in the adjacent crew pit behind her and Sequa
“Sir, one of the Sentinel's is leaving the main bay.” Faraday spun around on her boot heel “What?! Who?” She barked at the young brown haired man who raised a hand signaling he wasn't in contact with the pilot. “No need to worry Commander.” came the words from Sequa still at the edge of the opposite crew pit. “It's one of my messengers. As soon as he jumps from the system momentarily we'll activate the gravity wells.” The Amdiral finished. Faraday wasn't unaccustomed to Sequa sending a messenger as he called it on occasion but this seemed like and extremely bad time. “Will they bring reinforcements?” She said aloud. Less then a milisecond later she internally cursed herself knowing that the Empire's fall back points weren't going to leave to engage on a whim. No the messenger must have been something separate for Sequa. “No, I am sending information as we've jammed all long range communications.” Faraday nodded as Sequa confirmed her own thoughts a half second before. A few seconds later the navigation officer behind the flight officer spoke up “A rebel fighter is breaking away from the ferrying and on an intercept course with the shuttle Commander.” Faraday turned to Sequa who only nodded in reply. Faraday turned back to the crewman as she spoke “Launch fighters keep them away from the shuttle until it breaks for hyperspace then activate the gravity wells.”
Harken's Threat Bridge
“It'll be a race to the edge of the system Captain.” The first officer spoke up towards the Bith Captain Jorgen. A moment ago a Sentinel shuttle left the interdictor cruisers hangar and made its way towards the hyperspace lane. It'd need a few moments for the navicomputer to make the jump. Jorgen had ordered one of the X-wings closest to the Harken to intercept it. “The shuttle can't be afforded to leave in case it's trying to bring additional reinforcements.” Jorgen said aloud then the first officer spoke again “They must have their engines damaged and can't jump away but we caught them by surprise before they could send a signal so they're trying to get word to their fleet physically. It must be why they haven't activated the gravity wells yet.” the first officer finished. Jorgen turned and nodded at the first officer in reply. “It appears that way.” he said as his large black Bith eyes looked out from the forward viewer.
Kumo survivor column at Rally-point Alpha.
The ITT came to a quick stop at the edge of the rally point. The encirclement of shuttles and transports forming the semi-circle of ships in the dusty redish sands on the northwestern peninsula. The ITT had barely stopped and lowered as Kai hopped off the hull Vishar hopping of behind him. As they did Lieutenant Ryvil approached wearing his black flight suit. “Captain we're glad you arrived.” Ryvil said as he got within earshot. Kai grimaced and replied walking past Ryvil towards the Tie fighters and interceptors parked near the center of the semi-circle with a large titan drop-ship looming in the background. “Is my fight suit ready?” Was Kai's reply not even stopping to look at Ryvil as he bustled past heading towards the fighters. Ryvil turned and matched Kai's quick steps “Yes of course Commander Karamat had it ready a few hours ago.” Ryvil replied. “Good I want all remaining interceptors and fighters skyborne in the next 3 minutes the bombers are to be held in reserve in case of a counter attack.” Kai barked as he continued toward the fighters and shed his olive drab tunic tossing it behind himself towards Vishar and started unbuckling his trousers. To his credit Vishar caught Kai's tunic and kept in stride the hole time. Ryvil had a confused look on his face “Counter attack sir?” was his reply. “Yes, the rebels will come to finish us off once they get into a scrap with the Slipstream and disengage it.” Kai barked and tossed his trousers at Vishar as he grabbed the black fight suit sitting on a cargo crate next to the tie fighters. “Disengage?” Ryvil replied again with a questioning tone. Kai flashed him an angry look “I don't have time to explain. Keep yourself alive up there and break away from fighting when I say we may both live to see tomorrow.” Kai's words barked again at Ryvil. Visha remembered the Captain said something similar to himself the day before and now another situation has become dire enough to say it again.
Ryvil gave Kai a nod and headed toward his fighter. Kai finished donning his large black tie pilot helmet and linked up his oxygen chestbox controls. A moment later Kai's microphoned voice came through towards Vishar who stood there holding his uniform. “Get to the command center and take control of the situation, make sure Karamat's crews are ready. We'll need them to go at a moments notice.” Vishar nodded and turned and hustled off to the titan dropship looming behind the cluster of Tie fighters and interceptors on P.L.R. Moving units starting to disengage as technicians worked the control boards on the sides of the P.L.R.s releasing the fighters to fly.
