The Sundered Heart, for those who care enough to know or learn such things, is a CR70 Corellian Corvette that is in service to the Royal Aldreraan fleet. The ship is kept quite clean and well maintained, an obvious necessity for a ship used for diplomatic functions. While the Corellian Corvette is known for its extremely modular design, The Heart, as she's affectionately known to her crew and her Captain, has been fitted for diplomatic missions and relief work. As such her small hangar has already been downsized, so much so that it barely fits Cordal's remaining fighter, however her cargo holds are fairly expansive and the quality of living on the ship appears to be higher than one would except on service vessel. The crew is made up primarily, though not entirely of humans, with a small handful of other aliens rounding out the crew, whether or not they all hail from Alderaan is a mystery, but a likely one. All of the crew wear the same dusty blue uniform that Captain Antilles wore, though the grey capes seem to be optional and are most likely for higher ranking officers or for when one leaves the ship.
Five hours after arriving on the Sundered Heart you are approached by a shining gold protocol Droid, who addresses each of you politely (though keeping a good distance between himself and H'ishmau) and speaks in your native tongue, whatever that may be.
"Good day sir, I am C-3P0, human, Cyborg Relations. Captain Antilles has requested that you join him and the Lady Sabe in the starboard observation lounge, if you would follow me please"
The golden protocol droid leads each of the Trinity Station survivors to the aforementioned lounge until one by one everyone is there, at which point the lounge is occupied by Koros, Aran, Cordal, H'ihsmau and Zee; along with Captain Antilles, Sabe, Captain Dak, Leea, Master K'kruhk and Jace.
The lounge itself is an elegant one, as with most of the ship, the walls, floors and furniture are mostly white, though this time they're contrasted by single transparisteel window that runs the length of the Starboard wall, spilling out into the darkness of space and the light of the stars.
The lounge is divided into two parts, the first has about half a dozen circular tables that run the perimeter of the room, and ends in a small bar on one side, though it has no bartender. the second, separated by a single step down, is a number of plush chairs and sofas for people to recline in. The Jedi, Sabe and Captain Antilles wait in this lowered section, with Sabe and the two Jedi resting each in a chair while the Captain stands with his hands clasped behind his back, looking out at the stars.
The last figure in attendance, and you notice that the Golden protocol droid seems to have excused himself, is a white and blue Astromech droid perched stoically near one corner of the window. From its emitter, the Droid projects a holonet news feed into the air, an attractive female hologram announcing.
"And in political news, the mid-rim trading hub known as the Trinity came under attack earlier today by a Terrorist cell left over from the Separatist movement. Early reports indicate that these terrorists were attempting to release a chemical agent into the three stations life support systems. While damage was high, they were stopped by the timely arrival of our brave boys in the Imperial Fleet..."
"Alright Artoo, shut it off," Antilles orders from his spot by the window, to which the droid immediately complies. At this point, Captain Antilles turns to face everyone who's gathered.
"Thank you all for coming so quickly, for those who I haven't had a chance to meet yet, I do apologize, I'm afraid Sabe and I had a lot to discuss after the events at the station."
At the mention of Trinity, his eyes cast down and for a second he chews on his lip, before continuing, "You all saw the holonet report just now, They've been going on like that since the attack happened, they'll keep going..." He stops short and begins to pace slowly back and forth, "What we saw today, what we were almost victims of today proves that the Empire needs to be stopped. Throwing such a devastating virus at thousands of your own people, just to get a test result proves that things will not get better."
He stops pacing turning to face this rag tag group. His faw set firm and his eyes are ablaze with a cold but righteous fury. "Their crimes of Slavery will not stop. Their acts of destruction will not stop. Their blatant and absolute oppression of a Galaxy they swore to protect will not stop. And these small insurgencies, they grassroots rebellions have done nothing to quell the inferno that is Palpatine's Empire. They need to be opposed."
Antilles takes a pause, eyes moving to each person in the room, trying to gauge their opinions of his words, K'kruhk is the first to speak, "Raymus, are you suggesting what I believe you are?"
The younger Captain nods in confirmation, the zeal in his voice never diminishing, "I'm saying we form a true Resistance. a Military force capable of striking back against the Empire, of actually fighting this War that we all know is coming."
"Raymus what your suggesting is next to impossible, the resources, the manpower, the equipment... not to mention our homes." Sabe interjects, obviously wanting to believe in her friends new ideals, but scared to do so.
"Don't the Jedi say nothing is impossible?" Raymus smiles a small smile at his own quip, then continues, "Yes it is going to be difficult and sacrifices will need to be made. We cut all allegiances to our homeworlds, officially at least and go Rogue. We can use our diplomatic connections to gain capital, use Captain Varress' and his crews underworld connections to gather supplies. Sabe and the Droids seem to know their way through the electronic backdoor or two, we track down information as well as like minded groups. We'll need to secure a real battleship at first to base off of, assemble troops and pilots, not to mention some ships for them to fly." He gives a wave towards K'kruhk, Jace, Cordal and Koros, "And we've got some of the best rallying symbols in the Galaxy. The Jedi fought for us for thousands of years and while people may be too terrified to admit it, no one's forgotten that yet. We can do this!" his excitement gives way to a much more somber tone, "Furthermore, after everything we've all seen, can any of us really say that it isn't worth doing, no matter the risk?"
Jace leans forward in his seat, hands clasped in front of him and his knee slightly bobbing with his obvious excitement at the idea, "A resistance, eh?"
Captain Antilles Shakes his head, "THE Resistance. What do you guys say?"
Cordal shrugs, a little unaccustomed to being asked his opinion by anyone, let alone a captain. "I can donate one slightly used fighter. She flies good, when you don't jump out of her and land on shuttles." Cordal smiles at Jace. "I'm in. Anything that I can do to help, I will. I lost my life to the Empire; I'm just now finding a new one. I want it to mean something. I'm in."
Aran stands to the back of the room, stance wide, arms crossed, and not making eye contact throughout the entire speech. He'd spent most of his time roaming the ship; however they'd come by it, it was impressive. If there was going to be a rebellion, these guys were probably one of the best equipped to do it. If nothing else, they had at least a handful of Jedi.
But was that reason enough to join them? Was now the time to stop idly wandering the galaxy, his driving goal being the half-hearted search for a long lost childhood friend? Pondering it, he realized that what he'd be doing here wouldn't be so different. It'd gain him more notoriety, more infamy, and the Empire would be breathing a little more closely down his neck.
"I'm in." The tone of his voice sounds a bit harsh and he blinks a couple of times before adopting a more casual stance. "I don't have any allegiances - well, didn't before now. I'm a decent pilot, a crack shot, I've been around the galaxy a time or two..." he trails off and sighs. "I've seen plenty to make me hate the Empire, but Trinity's the last straw. I can't just slink back into the shadows if anything like that might happen again."
"I'm not too bright on our prospects... but I'm in."
Hish isn't particularly bright, but he keenly understands injustice and the role that the Empire is playing in it. "I'm in. As long as the Empire exists, so will slavery. That's something I'll fight for."
Koros opens his mouth slightly as he conceders correcting Captain Antilles grouping him in as a Jedi, but thinks better of it, not wanting to take away from Raymus’ speech.
“Count me in. The Emperor and his servants must be made to pay for their crimes against the people of this Galaxy.”
Zee swivels back and forth looking at the others and then beeps twice acknowledging his acceptance of the offer.
"We must be the change we wish to see in Others..." K'kruhk seems to be speaking more to himself than anyone else, and a moment later he lets out a long sigh and nods to Captain Antilles, "I am in."
Captain Antilles grins ear to ear, and takes a seat just in front of where he was standing, staying at the apex of the group. "Good, I'm glad I..." The Captain seems at a loss for words, and after a pause, merely nods and continues. "We'll need to establish a rank structure and hierarchy, though the majority of that can be attended to later. Though I did hope, Master K'kruhk, that you would resume your rank of General. I understand that right now we have little in the ways of Troops, but you are the most knowledgeable in Military tactics."
"Hrrmmm, Jedi are meant to be Peacekeepers, Philosophers, these violences trouble me." the Whipid grumbled, seeming very uncomfortable with the idea.
"Leadership should always be a burden, Master," Jace speaks up,
K'kruhk smiles at his Padawan, nodding his agreement with the boys words, and giving a shrug "Very well, but I must insist on deferring to your judgement and command, Captain."
Antilles nods to K'kruhk's terms and then turns back to the group, "We have a lot of work to do. We're going to need a proper Battleship, much as I love the Heart, she wouldn't last toe to toe with a Star Destroyer. We've got a good crew here but we'll need troops as well. Once we secure a base we'll need pilots as well. But before we get to that, does anyone have any questions?"
Zee hearing Captain Antilles talk of getting a battleship like going to the corner for coffee has him creating on his display a picture of Captain Antilles that he starts to magnify the head to be larger and larger.
Seeing his caricature on Zee's monitor, the Captain can't help but laugh, "I'm not saying that such a feat would be easy, honestly I think it would be downright suicidal, but then I think all of this is going to be suicidal. We do it anyways. We have to." He takes a breath before pushing himself to his feet, "I have any idea for a Flagship, though I'll need to look into it. We also need to look into finding allies." He picks up a datapad and looks it over, "Captain Varress, I need you to run an errand for me, if it isn't too inconvenient. Sabe I want you to start combing the Holonet for any leads that could help us, supplies, troops, weapons, possible allies, ZCC will help you."
Just before he leaves, Captain Antilles gives everyone a comm frequency, "If you need to get in contact with me, this will patch you through to C-3P0, my protocol Droid. Feel free to get to know the ship, make friends, I have a feeling we're all going to know each other real well by the end of all this." then the Captain leaves for his own office.
Standing up and stretching out his long and massive limbs, K'kruhk sighs, "Jace, Cordal, Koros, would you all be so kind as to join me in a few cycles in the cargo bay?"
At the same time, Dak pushes from the wall and heads for the doorway, "Leea, with me. Aran, H'ishmau is it... care to help me get the Wanderer set?"
Hish lopes after Dak to help. For the first time since he fought his way to freedom, he doesn't feel like he is being hunted.
He feels like the hunter.
Zee zips over to Sabe and prepares to work on the Holonet assignment.
"Aye aye," Aran says, falling in behind the aliens.
Koros smiles briefly and nods to K'kruhk in acknowledgement of his request. He stays sitting for a moment as the other hurry off to their destinations, before standing and striding over to the window. The Zabrak stared solemnly into the black as he contemplated the events of the day. In the back of his mind Koros could still hear the sickening crunch the two stormtroopers made as they collided. He winces slightly as the events play over in his head again.
It was the first time he’d taken another life.
Of course, Koros mused, he’d hurt people before in self defense. And when he knocked those Transhodan slavers down with the force he was more or less responsible for their deaths at Hish’s hands. Still, this was the first time he’d ever directly taken a life, and Koros felt… well, truth be told Koros didn’t feel much of anything. It had felt natural at the time, they tried to kill him, so he killed them before they could. I made sense to Koros, his master had trained him in the ways of lethal combat, he’d slammed crates and rocks plenty of times with enough force to kill someone in practice. Still, Koros always thought that when it came to a living person that it would feel different, that he would be unable to follow through with that lethal force. But it felt no different than any training session. No, that wasn’t quite right, it almost seemed easier.
That scared Koros a little.
The Zabrak shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it. After all, there was bound to be much more killing in this little revolution he was part of. Taking one last moment to stare past the transparisteel into oblivion, Koros turns from the window and makes his way to the cargo bay.
Zee follows Sabe as she heads through the ship's corridors and into a turbolift. "If we're going to be spending the next few hours on a computer, we may as well get a nice view."
They arrived on the upppermost level of the The Sundered Heart and into a room with a domed transparisteel ceiling that gave way to the stars above.
The room itself was white like the rest of the ship, and Zee noted that it was quite well cleaned... though not as wonderfully as the Hospital in Trinity. the center of the room was bare, but around the circumference were bowl like pods built into the floor, each housing an advanced computer terminal, and a scomp link in the wall beside it.
Sabe sat herself down in one of the pods and cracked her fingers in front of her before motioning for Zee to plug in, "First time I've ever been hacking with a vacuum cleaner, should be fun." she smiled and pressed a button, causing holographic monitors and control surfaces to visualize in front of her, "Alright Zee, let's get to work."
The Holonet. Very few in the Galaxy understand just how complex and vast of an organism it actually is. A grid of information that is literally galaxy wide, that everything from the highest grade of military secret to a student calling his friend for a game of Gravball. The end result was a network that was unlike any before or after it, all transmitted and connected by Hyperwave relays, from one end of the Galaxy to the other.
The problem was that it was also incredibly secure, as all data was maintained on their own server that only sent their information through the net, accessing information that one wasn't supposed to was actually extremely tricky, to the point of being next to impossible for most people, which was how the government and the corporations who provided it liked it. After all, if one offers the Entire Galaxy secure communication and information, one had best deliver.
But Sabe and Zee were not most people.
Cordal follows Master K'kruhk eagerly. 'Just like old times,' he thinks, then stops. Old times never involved treason or murder or the wholesale slaughter of innocent people.
The old times were definitely less complicated.
Zee looked up at the stars and wondered if his companion saw the world this way. Always wondering what might lie beyond the glass bubble but knowing that to leave the bubble was death.
A world of mystical lights and colours that were shining into its world with no knowledge of where they came from or what they really were.
It was pretty heavy thinking for a droid and Zee quickly re-focused his processor to the task at hand.
Sabe was practically asking for the impossible when she suggested the current assignment.
Zee was good but this was going to take more then good it was going to take a bit of luck that happened to favour Zee.
Zee creates a fake server shell that messages pass through as they are relayed from point to point through the Holonet. It includes a fake level of security that questions signals for their permission to run through its relay.
Zee uses the gathered signals to create duplicates to tag behind the original signal like a person tailgating someone through a door except it happened at the speed of electronic signals and Zee was just a passenger along for the ride.
Arriving inside, he started to create friendly accounts from which further exploration and access could be achieved.
It was a bit like fishing, hoping the right fish swam across the false server relay and fell into the net. Then again with the billions of signals flowing through the network, it was more like getting everyone in the Imperium to throw dice. A few would end up throwing a twelve.
Aran and Hish worked for hours with Dak, transporting cargo from the Wanderer to The Sundered Heart. The process is tedious, moving everything crate by crate through the umbilical tube onto the larger ship.
"I tell you, its gonna be strange flying without you and Cordal again Aran... might actually get some peace and quiet for once." the Nautolan grins good naturedly at Aran.
"Oh I don't know sir," Leea announces, entering into the Wanderer through the access tube, "If Aran's not around, who am I going to make blush?" for the first time. Leea gets a good look at H'ishmau and her eyes get a little wide. She isn't afraid, her smile shows that... is it... intrigued? "You're one of the boys we picked up on Trinity, right?"
....
Meanwhile, in the second Cargo bay, K'kruhk has gathered Jace, Koros and Cordal. When the three enter, the Jedi Master is already there, his tunic stripped off, he kneels shirtless in the center of the room, his eyes closed and his lightsaber rests on the floor in front of him.
"Thank you for coming boys. In light of our current situation, I feel that our traditional rules can no longer apply, but none of your educations have been completed." he turns to Jace and Cordal, "Jace you will continue to serve as my Padawan, however I will also begin a formal apprenticeship with Cordal as well... unless you object." he poses the question to Cordal, and then looks to Koros. "You, my boy, are a rather unique case. I have no intention to persuade you to 'my path' as it were, in fact I hope that we can discuss the finer points of the Jensaarai so that I may better understand them and you. With that said however, you are still a student, and have much to learn. You are welcome to participate in these lessons."
With that, K'kruhk pushes himself to his feet, smiling down at his new students, those who have stayed at least, and holds out his hand. His lightsaber floats in the air in front of him. "As Jedi, this weapon is our life. It is a symbol of our commitment, our legacy, of our very being. But make no mistakes, the absolute moment," with a wave of his hand, the weapon ignites in the air, "That you must use your blade, you have lost." The weapon floats into the Whipid's hand and he holds it out in front of the three warriors, "You must understand, every cut of your lightsaber is a small tragedy. As Jedi..." he pauses and glances at Koros, "As warriors who strive to better ourselves, we must decide what tragedies we can live with."
Cordal kneels before Master K'Kruhk. His attentiveness is his answer.
"Just don't junk 'er while you're out, Captain, I've spent a lot of hours on her that I'd hate to see go to waste," Aran replies with a big grin. He just rolls his eyes and chuckles at Leea.
He stops a moment to look around, thinking he had managed to get himself attached to the ship. Now he'd be mucking around the galaxy on likely suicidal orders from Antilles... But he'd spent enough time running from the Empire and its atrocities.
There always came a time to stand and fight.
Zee continues to work the Holonet for information.
Hish looks Leea up and down, then straightens up to his full height. "I was on Trinity, but I wasn't picked up. I fought my way out, as any good warrior would. It was a great battle, full of blood and honorable combat. I haven't had such good kills since I tore the head off the Zabrak who enslaved me. I am H'ishmau, son of Garratha'a, of the planet Togoria."
Hish does not know how to talk to women outside his home planet.
Koros diverts his eyes from K’kruhk towards the ground as he finishes speaking for a few brief moments. The Jensaarai then nods slowly with understanding and agreement, and brings his gaze back to the Jedi Master. “Thank you master K’kruhk, you are correct, I still have much to learn in the ways of the force. I welcome any lessons you would teach me and I promise to keep an open mind.”
K'kruhk smiles and nods to Koros, then motions for this students to stand. He leads them through lightsaber drills. First the basics, then more advanced routines. And then he sets them upon each other in sparring matches. "No matter what, you must always keep your mind clear. Never give in to rage or anger. Overconfidence and hubris, or even the limitations of your body." The sparring continues for hours, never slowing, never stopping. Whenever one of the three is defeated, another is sent against him, and whichever is not facing their friend, faces Master K'kruhk again. In time, every muscle in Jace, Koros, and Cordal's body screams in pain and exhaustion. Do not deceive yourself, You will make enemies, you will be forced to fight. It is our duty to see through that, to always look for an alternative, and when one is not present, to see our course to its best end. Pain, anger, exhaustion, all of these are inconsequential."
Finally, six hours later, the three would-be knights find themselves each lying on the floor of the cargo deck, their bodies feeling like they were on fire. Each one gasping for air that seems to elude him. Standing over them, K'kruhk smiles. "I believe that will be all for today."
-----
For a moment, Leea just stares at Hish, obiviously having no clue what to make of him....
Then without warning, she starts laughing. It isn't mocking or sarcastic, just light amused laughter, "Oh boy," she manages to get out, gaining control of her giggles, "You really did grow up on the farm, didn't you.. Well then," she smiles up at Hish her lavender hair falling in front of her left eye, "Do me a favor, H'ishmau son of Garrath'a, Keep Aran and Cordal safe, neither of them's fighting with a full blaster." she pushes herself up on her tiptoes and lightly kisses Hish on the cheek, before tossing him another smile and walking to the ladder to the Wanderer, waving goodbye to Hish and Aran.
-----
Later that night, Captain Antilles sends orders for everyone to convene in the command conference room. The room is on the upper most deck of the ship, not far from the computer terminal chamber that Sabe and Zee were using.
The room is classic without being opulent, a long table rests in the middle, a small holo terminal built into the face of it at each seat. On one side is a beautiful vista painting of rolling green hills and a white city, most likely some scene of Antilles homeworld of Alderaan.
Captain Antilles stands at the head of the table, 3P0 stands behind him. Sitting at his right is Sabe, K'kruhk is at his left.
"To start with, on the matter of chain of command. I'm giving field commissions to Sabe, and K'kruhk. Sabe now holds the rank of Colonel, and will function as my XO. As discussed, K'kruhk will take the role of Ground forces Commander, and is now a General... not that he has any troops. While I'm still unsure where to place the rest of you... once we have troops the Jedi will most likely be placed in squad commands, similar to the Clone Wars. K'kruhk and Dak have also spoken highly of Aran and Cordal's pilot skills. Nevertheless, you are effectively my command staff. Your opinions are valued and I'll want your input. Which is what this meeting is for..."
He nods to Sabe, and she brings up a hologram of two freighters. Captain Antilles continues his briefing, "Sabe and ZCC uncovered a report of a prisoner transport. Mostly insurgents, soldiers. Exactly the kind of people we need. We've also charted their course and have pinpointed a relay point along their jump path. In my opinion, we've a damn good shot at liberating those prisoners, but..."
he nods again and Sabe changes the Hologram, now an old man with receding hair and a thin goatee, dressed in an Imperial Uniform. "This is Admiral Saul Naratha. Real old school military, Served his planetary fleet, the Republic Fleet and now the Imperial. He's been a loud supporter of the Jedi and honestly crossed one too many bigwigs in the new order. Demoted from commanding his own fleet to single command. Naratha was recently transfered to The Hammer, a newly developed Assault Cruiser. Politically the move is seen as an Insult, due to the rimworld posting and that its not a Star Destroyer."
Sabe takes over the briefing, "I know Saul, he's a good man. His anti-Imperial rhetoric has finally seen as going too far and he's been declared a traitor."
"But the catch is," Antilles takes the lead again, "His entire crew sided with him. The Hammer is now seen as a Rogue element and declared its independence from the Empire. Last reports say that the Hammer has bunkered down in Sorroco's orbit, But the Empire isn't taking chances. Sabe intercepted a report that states Death Squadron is being sent to deal with it."
A shiver runs through the room, Death Squadron was the personal fleet of Darth Vader himself.
Aran laughs at Leea's reaction to Hish, blushes bright red at her comment regarding him, and just grins widely and shakes his head as she leaves. "Well, Hish, I was a farm boy not so long ago myself. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."
-----
Aran sits to one side of the command table, alternately crossing and uncrossing his legs, fighting the urge to put them up on the table. Command staff... He keeps hearing the echo of 'farm boy' in dozens of different voices, and keeps quiet, considering just how little experience he really has.
When the briefing starts, he forces himself to sit straight and stare intently at the holo. Once it's done, he asks "So, we save the prisoners, or we save Saul?" He runs a hand through his hair, looks around the room, and slouches back. "Boy, that's a choice, isn't it." Command staff... farm boy... your opinions...
"Saul has more to offer, but..." he trails off, knowing he doesn't need to remind anybody about the Death Squadron. "I think it's worth it, if we can get in and out fast enough. If his ship is new tech, that gives us an edge. And a good crew who already knows how to work together? That's worth a mountain of credits. We just gotta... Well, you know."
Aran looks over at Hish, knowing from the Togorian's outbursts that he's likely to go with his heart and want to rescue the prisoners.
Zee swivels back and forth to look at the others and see their reactions to the two missions.
He was just a droid and would go where he was needed.
As Leea left, Hish bellowed back, "On Togoria, the men hunt! I am no farmer!"
------------------------------------------------------------------
Hish listens to the choices and pulls his ears back. Speaking in his typical low growl, he submits his opinion with force, vigor, and more than a little menace. "That ship is still working. They can fend for themselves. Just send them a message! The prisoners need us! We can set them free. There will be nothing they want more. If you want their eternal loyalty, free the prisoners." As he speaks, he begins to stand and slam his paws against the table. "It is the right thing to do!"
Koros rests his chin on his steeped hands in thought while listening to Captain Antilles speak. He pipes in after Hish’s emotional outburst.
“Is there no way to go after both? Certainly an entire assault cruiser full of soldiers is worth more strategic value, but unless we plan to board one of Death Company’s star destroyers mid battle, I’m not sure how much help Hish and I will be, we’re not pilots. On the other hand a small boarding party might be able to take over the transport those prisoners are on.”
"I believe young Koros has the right idea." K'kruhk speaks up. his eyes never leaving the young Zabrak.
"Master K'kruhk, with all do respect," Sabe speaks up, gesturing towards the dual holograms, "The time it would take to enact an operation at one target would take too long for us to then make it to the next. If we break the prisoners out, Vader's fleet will obliterate The Hammer. If we help the Hammer, the prisoners will already be processed and sent to whichever gulag Palpatine has ready for them... There isn't enough time."... She takes a breath, steadying herself, "Captain I recommend that we attempt to save the Prisoners... its safer and has a far higher chance of success."
"But if I may Colonel," K'kruhk interjects again, "If one is so focused on the path ahead, they often lose sight of alternate roads. We still have the shuttle that Jace commandeered from the Imperial Forces at Trinity. A Team could be assembled and sent on that to free the prisoners while the rest of our forces move to aid The Hammer. The newly freed prisoners can then rendezvous and help us in a hopefully daring escape."
"That sounds practically suicidal..." Antilles ran a hand through his hair, "So really its about the same as everything else we do... Alright K'kruhk. You're my General, you assemble the Team, but I want you with us to aid The Hammer."
K'kruhk nods, turning to face everyone, "I believe Koros would be the ideal choice to lead the Strike Team. What of the rest of you, What are your preferences?"
Zee puts up a picture of Aran on his video screen. He'll go where Aran decides to go.
"I can pilot for the strike team. I'll go with them."
"If you're gonna gamble, gamble big, sir," Aran remarks as Antilles notes how suicidal the plan is.
"Splitting up does seem crazy, but maybe it's just crazy enough. Like Sabe said, it's all about time." Aran sits up straight again. "I'd like to be at the Hammer. We get there fast enough, Zee and me can help prepare and maybe we can raise enough hell to distract the... fleet... long enough for the cavalry to arrive or the Hammer to escape."
Just talking about it clearly has the youth excited and more than a little scared.
Zee thinks for a moment and then flashing up an image of broadcaster's desk with a broadcaster saying, "In today's news, the Hammer was spotted near Alphazora, Bi-Gilbert Delta, and near the Tri-Delta Rim." Zee then flashes up picks of various freighters with round circles emanating from them and scattered over an area of galactic map like various Pirate Broadcasting points.
"All right, its settled then," Raymus nods, looking everyone over, "Koros will lead H'ishmau and Cordal to free the prisoners and, if possible bring them to help with The Hammer's escape. Koros, I want you to report to Intel and try and work out the best place to intercept. This is your mission, run it as you see fit." He turns back towards the others, taking note of the little droids holos, "General K'kruhk will take command of what few troops we can manage, Sabe I want you to put out the call, smugglers, pirates, anyone we can get to fire a cannon." He waves a hand towards Zee, asking Sabe, "Putting out fake transponders on the Hammer... doable?"
Sabe let out a sigh, running a hand through her hair, "Possible, yeah... hardly easy, and we couldn't send the signal from the Heart, or any other ship. It's too likely that the Empire will trace it. Still if we pull it off it would buy us some time."
"Alright, then it'll have to be straight from a comm relay, let's do it," he turns towards Aran, "Feel up to it?"
"Can I do it? Yeah, little terrified, but I can do it," Aran says, managing a nervous grin. "It's a, uh, it's a plan alright."
"I imagine Zee feels about the same way, huh?" he adds as he looks at the droid.
Zee puts a picture of several saluting soldiers on his display and whistles his agreement with Aran.
"I'll begin pre-flight on the ship for the rescue mission. Master. I hope to see you again. May the Force be with all of you." Cordal bows to his Master and heads off to the place where he feels most at home: behind the controls of a starship.
With a good fight and a rescue of others from servitude looming before him, H'ishmau is in a fairly good mood. Sitting in his seat in the ship, he closes his eyes and mentally prepares for the fight. His claws move a bit as he imagines the upcoming fight in his head, with a small smile on his feline face.
Zee starts to pack his few belonging to prepare for the trip.
"Jace, you've experience with these types of missions. You will act as Koros' second in command for this mission." K'kruhk tells his most senior Padawan.
Jace simply nods once and looks to Koros, offering a reassuring smile, "Yes Master."
"Alright, we know what we need to do. Get to work planning you assault, Commanders." Raymus orders Koros and Jace and then turns towards Aran, "Congratulations, I'm hereby commissioning you to the rank of Lieutenant. I want you to meet with Colonel Dallows," he gives a wave to Sabe and you realize its the first time any of you have heard her last name, "and work out your infiltration plan. We don't have much, but I'm giving you access to whatever you need." The Captain then turns and looks to everyone in the room.
"Dismissed."
Episode II: The Gathering Storm
Raymus stepped out from the Turbolift and onto the pristine white bridge of the Sundered Heart. "Captain on deck!" someone called out, and those of the half dozen crew men there who could snapped to attention. "As you were," Raymus replied, his hand reflexively moving up to pull at the collar of his blue uniform. Honestly he was never comfortable with the respect given his rank, leading men was always more his brother's cup of tea... and yet here he was. Looking out the transparisteel windows at the stars streak past in hyperspace he couldn't help but smile; here he was not just in command, but commanding a military coup. He let out a small sigh and gritted his teeth. He wouldn't say it aloud but there was another reason he was glad they were trying to save the Hammer. With the Admiral rescued, Raymus wouldn't need to act as Leader anymore. He would do what was needed of him of course, but it was a thought that brought him comfort.
"one hour until checkpoint one sir." the nav officer calls back over his shoulder.
"Good," Raymus replies, never betraying his fears to his crew, "Send Colonel Dallows her two hour warning and tell Comander Koros to get prepped to launch.
In the ship's briefing room.
Rows of chairs descend down towards a Holonet projector in the center of the small room. Koros and Jace stand on either side of the projector while Cordal and H'ishmau sit in the front row.
"Our major issue is to not get ourselves into a ship to ship." Jace says, filling in the others on what he and Koros have discussed. "The freighter carrying these men is a big one, and going against its blasters and its shields in one shuttle is pretty much suicide. But its actually fairly lightly crewed, most of it being converted to prison space. We estimate that there's no more than thirty soldiers, while we have reports that there's over a hundred prisoners. Now..." Jace grins, "Even as good as we are, three dozen would be a possibly fatal issue... but with a hundred recently released inmates... we could take the ship."
At this point, Koros steps in, "We've gotten the slicers to work up a fake distress signal. It should get us on board the freighter, after that it's a fight to the cell block."
They let it sink in, then Jace asks,"Any questions?"
Meanwhile Aran sits across a small conferance table from Sabe in a different room, a series of datapads, schematics laid out in front of them, Zee himself also sits on the table. "We've found a comm relay to use, one of three in the sector, even better it's just had maintenance completed last week, so it should be empty." she slides one of the datapads towards Aran. It shows the blue print of the comm station. a three floor statelite, each floor no more than a couple rooms each. The bottom level is all machinery to run the satelite and its quarters, only small catwalks and crawlspaces. the second floor, the largest is a modest apartment for whenever someone needs to stay at the relay station. The uppermost floor is the actual control center for the holonet relay.
"You could just attach your ship to the berth tube here," she taps the datapad near the middle level, "But it's probably monitored, I'd recommend entering the station through one of the exhaust vents here," she taps the lowest part of the map, "What do you think?"
Aran puffs out his cheeks and frowns, leaning forward and resting his head on his elbows to look over the pad. "I think I'd rather not be climbing through exhaust tubes, but we don't wanna set off any more warning bells than we absolutely have to, huh?" He looks over to Zee and adds, "No disrespect to ya Zee, but even if you tampered with whatever monitoring system's there, it's too big a risk. Up the tailpipe's our best option."
Zee wasn't a 'maintenance' droid; so, his knowledge on these matters were limited. His job was cleaning and he could do it very well and that included moving through venting areas.
Personally, he hated the things as they were often the dirtiest parts of a ship with extra air flow directed through them and being out of sight they were often 'ignored' by sentients for purposes of cleaning.
Zee did have to wonder what kind of vents would be connected to the exterior of a satelite. It couldn't be an air vent as that would be like a screen door on a submarine. That was a quote that was listed in his Knowledge of Social Science for species. It was part of his training on things that made no sense but sentients said them anyways.
Still, if anyone had to run around a ship, his magnetized wheel system and extendable gripper arm would give him a good chance of avoiding floating away.
Zee put a picture of a cartoon burgaler on his display with a black mask, cap, red and white shirt, and lock picking tools to show that he was ready to go.
"Looks like the team's all in agreement," Aran says with a grin to Sabe. "Just need to kit up and get there before the fleet does."
Sabe nods once to Aran, I should have an EV suit that can fit you in storage that will fit you. We're going to drop you in the Cloakshape at the second checkpoint, it's in the same system as the Comm station. From there you are on your own." As Sabe explains the last bits of the plan, Aran recalls that the Cloakshape fighter isn't hyperdrive capable, "We'll send a pickup for you after all is said and done, activate the ship's transponder when you're ready." she gives a small smirk, "Unless we're all dead, then you're SOL"
She stands up and heads for the door, "Let's get your gear, need anything beside the suit?"
Meanwhile in the briefing room, a warning light on the display flashes bright red, "That's our cue everyone. Get to the shuttle now!"
Aran grimaces at the need for pickup. When asked if he has anything else to requisition, he grins and asks, "I dunno, a hyperdrive maybe?" After a nervous chuckle, he adds, "Nah, I think I've got everything. Let's get a move on."
Zee runs a diagnostic check on his systems and makes sure all his parts are in working order.
He beeps twice to let Sabe know that he is ready to go.
He flashes his video in green to show that he is ready to go.
Hish wants to pace on the ship, cooped up for far too long. He envisions a bloody retribution, his claws dipping into his enemies. Unknowingly, he begins to purr softly with his eyes closed.
Cordal revs the engines on the ship, running it through several simulations and seeing what works and what doesn't. He's not eager, but ready, content in the his new realization of the Force.
Koros boards the shuttle as Cordal does his system check. His plan once they were picked up by the prison ship was a simple one, shock and awe. They were going to be outnumbered to be sure, but numbers weren’t everything. Beaten though they were the Jedi were still the stuff of legend, and most who didn’t respect them feared them. The sight of three lightsabers igniting in front of whomever opens the shuttle door would be enough to send many men running. Add to that the sight of Hish, who was arguably scarier than three Jedi alone, and Koros team might just be able to scare the prison guard so badly they’ll forget that they have the advantage. Hopefully, at least, long enough to release his team’s reinforcements from their cells.