Public A Harsh Lesson

[Xitli Sacul]

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Prologue: Hubris

It's the dawn of a new golden age of discovery. In the year 870 ABY, deep space observatories detected a massive anomaly deep within the uncharted Unknown Regions, its energy reading rivalling that of their own Sun.

Shocked by this development the Excan Tlahtoloyan commissioned the Citalee Guild to find, and if possible, recover this anomaly for further research believing it would usher in a new age of prosperity for the Avali people. After years of careful planning and research, the genesis of The Chalco is born of that discovery, a State-of-the-Art Voidcutter capable of independently exploring the Galaxy. Outfitted with the best equipment the Avali had to offer, and some of the brightest minds it was a mission destined to succeed.

But the Galaxy has changed. And they are woefully underprepared...
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When Xitli left with the Admiral's blessing he was excited to spread his wings, believing it to be a quick and fruitful expedition that would perhaps earn him a gift worthy of granting him passage to the homeworld. He preoccupied himself with thoughts of once more seeing the pyramids of Quetza or fishing in the tropical waters where his life began. It kept him sane. Maybe he was too eager.

"Captain."

He drums his talons on the personal console, his disapproving eyes moving up and down the purple-scaled body taking in the stained engineering jumpsuit and stench of oil. Telene was a good engineer, he could usually tolerate her lack of hygiene but it did neither of them any favours. He missed Quauhatli.

"Captain." She repeated, prompting Xitli to respond.

"Chief Engineer Telene... please tell me you have a good reason not to come here in such a state." He says, in a tired but stern voice.

Telene immediately hesitates to brush out a couple of creases in her uniform before continuing, "My apologies Captain. I was asked to inform you, that our long-range sensors are operating nominally. I've checked several times, but there is no energy signature matching the one detected by our Observatory. We are making preparations to make our next jump. However, we continue to receive unidentified transmissions."

"I already told you, it sounded like background radiation." He replied despite knowing full well that was an excuse. This wasn't the first time either, they had been travelling through territories unannounced, and many of the codexes provided were out of date making the encoders useless. Any transmission they received was jargon, and any attempt to return calls was probably much the same on the other side. Unless they used old frequencies it seemed unlikely reliable communications could be established.

He'd love to respond if it meant having a conversation with someone who wasn't consistently seeking his affection. He was getting irritable. Pressure mounting.

"There is a pattern to the signal sir. I think we should leave, try and establish long-range communications and ask for updated files."

She was right, of course, but he couldn't imagine the thought of facing his superiors right now. They'd ask for an update, and what was he to tell them, that they'd invested millions of credits on a fool's errand? That he had wasted months of work searching for a phantom? That they were wrong? No. He couldn't afford another setback.

"Continue the search pattern, and do nothing if any ships approach us. They'll probably scan us and move on, like everyone else." It wasn't like they could do much of anything anyway, besides a couple of point defence cannons and a measly turret they couldn't do much of anything.

"Sir..." She murmured leaving the room in a hurry. Quauhatli wouldn't have given up so easily.

Marcus Voss | Laphisto

 

[Laphisto]

Owen Gisk was sent into the unknown regions to track the last known signal of the Tracyn a Mandalorian war-era ship that was sent outwards into space searching for Laphistos home world. they tracked the location given to them by the black box aboard the conquests Agenda back to somewhere in this section of space, but that was well over four thousand years ago, if the ship was using sunlight engines it could still possibly be close by or at the very least maybe it had left behind a trace of where it was?

Owen would be sitting in the captain's chair of the Agenda, the relatively small ship had seen some recent upgrades to its shielding and weapons but nothing major, Laphisto was currently searching for possible trade routes on the other side of the galaxy and that left him here to search for the ship. if they were to hold off the Pirate lord Ubbal Dusat they needed more firepower, and what better than a sixteen hundred kilometer war ship made nearly entirely of beskar?. his thoughts were interrupted when Oldus Bey one f the main members of the Agendas Bridge crew spoke up

" sir we are reading an object nearby scanners are unable to pierce the object but its speed and radiation levels suggest its another ship it might be the Tracyn, shall we send out the all-clear code so that it doesn't flee or god forbid fire on us?"

looking the man over owen would shake his head softly before looking to Sibar Sherrol " take us about, i want to get a look at this thing before we go sending that signal, we have to be absolutely positive it's the Tracyn "

the agenda would make a turn heading straight towards the unknown vessel with no real indication of slowing down, their scanners rolling over its surface and trying to identify it as best they good but ultimately not being of much help, the ship was well over five thousand years old and its signal frequencies were just as old and or malfunctioning. as the small 115 meter ship drew closer and closer their speed didn't seem to slow down, almost mimicking an attack run if some one didn't know exactly what was going on

 

[Marcus Voss]

Location: Unknown Region
Tags: Laphisto | Xitli Sacul

The ship was quiet, the sound of footsteps barely audible despite the small size of the ship. The Imperial ship travelled through hyperspace as it neared its destination. Within one of the cabins Marcus Voss sat, meditating with his lightsabers laid out before him. He was not on official Imperial business, and while he had work to do, Marcus felt it necessary to return to Vengard, to address some matters of importance, and also to make some inquiries on certain matters.

It wasn't his job to deal with minor Imperial matters, but he needed a justifiable reason for venturing into the Unknown Regions, so why not use the excuse of piracy. Plenty of Imperial merchants had been sacked in the region, and some ships had recently gone missing. Of course, the Empire had no business dealing with affairs in other territories, so he would steer as clear as possible from the surrounding groups.

A quick knock on his door brought him back to reality, as the door opened. He was met by an Ensign, of course one of his men, and not that of the Empire's. "Inquisitor, there has been a malfunction with the hyperdrive. The engineers at Bastion must have messed something up. It appears as if we'll be dropping deeper into the Unknown Regions then we anticipated."

"Very well, see to it repairs commence as soon as we come out of hyperspace, and I want any reports of activity in the area." To say he was annoyed at the situation would be an understatement. He would be speaking to the engineers at Bastion as soon as he returned. The door shut as Marcus opened his eyes. Standing up hastily, his blades flew to his waist as his mask was put on his face.

Not leaving a moment to waste he put on his armour and his cloak, and left his quarters. As he approached the cockpit, the ships regular buzz of activity returned as its crew began making preparations and engineers made their way to their positions. All of which paused as he walked past. He entered the cockpit and was greeted by the pilots and crew inside.

Just as Marcus entered the ship dropped out of hyperspace.

"I want us in Kalidan's orbit as soon as possible. Lieutenant, report."

The Lieutenant in the seat to the far left manning the radar equipment hastily keyed into the console. "Detecting 2 ships nearby, one of which appears to be quite large. The other's a museum piece."

"Odd, it should not be a problem, though contact me if anything interesting arises." He left the cockpit, tempted to return to the star fighter docked against the ship to waste time, as repairs would take a while, though he opted against it. He returned to his quarters.
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[Xitli Sacul]

Xitli blinked the console momentarily flashing red, a proximity alarm.

The first, wasn't entirely foreign. Although the database failed to accurately ID it, initial power signatures and rough shape suggested an imperial vessel.

It was a concerning thought. Intel and historical records had suggested the Empire collapsed long ago, with defeat of Emperor Palpatine. It was believed the only holdouts left were a couple imperial outposts scattered across the Rim.

Their presence here was enough to make hesitate. The last time he encountered Imperials they almost killed him, if not for... Damnit. Quauhatli.

His train of thought was interrupted again, another signature this one actually produced a positive match. He was shocked. Genuinely surprised the data banks proved actually useful. Maybe... No.

"This has to be a mistake." He frowned. Maybe he gave Telene too much credit, something had to be wrong. This vessel was ancient. It had to be the last of its kind.

Xitli twitched something inside him clicked. Rare. Valuable. He knew without a doubt a female somewhere would cherish such a gift. If only they could.

No. Bad move. He wasn't a lowly pirate, and besides none it would matter if he caused a diplomatic incident that could invite war.

Click. Click. Click.

He reared his head watching the door slide open, it wasn't Telene. Instead he was greeted by a crimson scaled Satorian wearing a clean pressed uniform. He was young and this would be his first assignment.

"Sir. I trust the computer has informed you, we've detected two vessels. One unidentified, the other an old Republic ship."

"An imperial ship I believe." Xitli confirmed, "Your orders?"

"Prepare-" Xitli paused, realising he forgot something. "Sir. If I may make a suggestion?"

Xitli eyes narrowed on the young officer causing the Satorian to sweat. "What is your suggestion?" He asked plainly.

"Well... Sir. The ship is quite o-old, assuming they haven't wiped their databases perhaps they still have old codecs?" He replied hastily. Xitli's expression softened.

"An excellent suggestion ensign." He replied, "Will you escort me to the bridge?"

---

The bridge was quite when he arrived, he could see Telene speaking with the communications officer. Up till now Xitli was wondering if the position should been made redundant, maybe reassigning him to a duty more productive.

"Metzil." He said, prompting them to stop. Telene whispered something about ruffling feathers, then left. "Captain." He affirmed.

"Try and open a channel with the Republic ship. Tell them we're here on a scientific mission, and would appreciate the opportunity to exchange information."

"And the other vessel Sir?" He asked.

Xitli considered his choices carefully, there was a slim chance the Imperial ship might make sense of the communications. It was also just as likely they might mistake it for something nefarious, but all the same they would probably intercept the transmission anyway.

"Extend it to both, keep shields minimal."

"Sir? You said it was Imperial."

"I believe it to be imperial in origin," He emphasised, "we cannot yet say for certain. I rather avoid any misunderstanding."

It was old code and he knew pirates very well might such things. He just hoped keeping an unencrypted channel might give them pause.

Of course, there was a very real risk that the signal could draw in any listening pirates. In which case, he hoped the other starships might assist.

 

[Laphisto]

as the unknown ship drew into view growing larger and larger owen would give a small frown, whatever that ship was it was not the Tracyn but some other ship entirely. the strange design and make were unknown to the old veteran. even with his time serving in the Galactic alliance military looking to the pilot he would order for them to slow down drawing no closer than a kilometer as they got closer Sibar Sherrol spoke out a warning " sir a ship just dropped out of hyperspace, looks to belong to the empire, they have more then likely detected us by now. what are your orders? "

with a small frown Owen would lean forwards in his chair, he recognized the design only partially, it was a freighter, a fast and agile craft one that could speak troubles for the agenda if he chose to engage in combat, looking to the pilot Owen would speak " Sibar, bring us about to the unknown ship stop no further than one kilometer away, I want a clear path out of here if needed, for all we know this ships an imperial prototype and we just stumbled upon there testing grounds. bring shields up to full ch-" Owen would be interrupted by Oldus Bey

" sir we the ships picking up some strange signals terminating from the ship, I'm in the workings of decoding or at least trying to make sense of things, it's only being detected on some of the older equipment, my guess is its a hail? whatever the signal is it's on an open frequency, it will take me a few minutes to figure things out, the unknown ships also brought their shields up though they are not at full power, or are extremely weak."

owen would lean back in his chair thinking to himself, the unknown ship sent out a hail which would correlate with them not being imperial but perhaps some sector defense force. either way, they would need to make a decision on how to proceed " sibar bring shields up to full capacity, prep weapons, we are in imperial space and trespassing, I want the hyperdrive charged and ready in case we need to make a quick retreat, angle us broadside to both ships, our weapons are forward facing so this angle should give us an edge to engage which ever ship decides to fire on us first."

oldus bey would continue to work on the signal finding it frustrating that so many different systems were detecting it, as the ship angled itself against both the unknown vessel and the imperial freighter oldus would finally narrow down on the signal piping up and turned his head quickly to Owen " sir! i have them, it's a radio frequency I'm patching them in through your console now"

looking at his comlink he would press on the button speaking to the unknown vessel on the open channel " this is Owen Gisk of The Lilaste Order., to whom am I speaking?" Owen would wait, silence filling the bridge of the agenda his eyes darting over the rest of the bridge crew, the deafening sound rang through his ears, the overhead lights humming, he could hear his own heart begin to beat eyes flicking to the consol viewing the sensors watching the imperial ship in the distance looking to sibar she would wrap her hands along the hyperdrive leaver ready to power it on and get them to safety if needed

 

[Marcus Voss]

Location: Unknown Region
Tags: Laphisto | Xitli Sacul

Before he knew what was happening he was back in the cockpit of the freighter, watching as the crew worked. He feared something was going to happen, and frankly, he wasn't ready to start a fight. He had no clue whom the ships were affiliated with, which made the situation more difficult. The ships scanners had detected both ships raising their shields, and it appears one of the ships armaments came online. The freighter, while small, was advanced enough to withhold an attack.

"Sir, the unknown ship is establishing contact, though it's difficult to get ahold of, attempting to patch us through." The communications officer reported.

"Very well, I want our shields up to full capacity. Bring our weapons online and prepare for combat, I have no clue how this might go down." He was most likely getting ahead of himself, but his years of training taught him to never let his guard down. He was prepared to do anything to protect his ship and his crew. His only concern was how long it would take to repair the hyperdrive.

"We're patched in, though it may be a bit rough making any sense of it."

"See to it repairs are moving along at a rapid rate, I want our getaway to be ready should anything happen." With that he leaned in towards the comm, then paused as the warbled transmission came through. The communications officer hit s few buttons which seemed to fix the problem. Then, deciding against revealing himself, he motioned for the captain to do it.

"This is Captain Sandor of The Empire aboard The Prophet. Might I ask who we are speaking to?" The captain keyed off the comm as the Inquisitor nodded in approval.

It was times like these he was glad he modified the freighter, the fighter docked in the "docking port" would surely come in handy. "Have the starfighter prepped, I may be taking it out in a moment."
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[Xitli Sacul]

With the message sent, Xitli could only wait patiently for a response. "The Republic Ship is raising shields."

That wasn't the news he wanted to hear, they couldn't afford a fight. It had become increasingly obvious that the Avali lacked the standardisation necessary to easily replace broken components, and if they lost the engines. He shuddered at the thought.

"Anything on Comms?" He asked, hoping it was just a reaction of a cautious commander. After all, their ship was probably just as alien as their outdated star maps had been.

Metzil didn't respond at first, seeming distracted. A good sign perhaps. Still he couldn't risk being idle, "Metzil?"

"Sorry Sir. We got something." He confirmed keying something into the console. "I've cleared it best I can."

"It is Owen <static> of The Laundry Order, to <static> am I speaking?"

Laundry Order? A mistake, he hoped. Perhaps Jedi?

The voice was robotic, as if someone had put it through a half dozen translators until finally getting something legible. He looked at Metizil confused, "I don't think it came out right. Honestly, you'd think Citalee was sabotaging is."

The thought had crossed his mind. He never knew Citalee to be incompetent, but then again they had isolated themselves from the Galaxy for centuries and God's only knew what had changed in that time.

"Please keep such treacherous thoughts to yourself Metizil." He sighed, he couldn't quite bring himself to discipline him properly. He didn't have the energy.

"Otherwise, good work." He added, then turned again to the matter at hand. He'd been practicing Galactic Standard for quite sometime and it felt nice to put it into practice.

"Another power surge, weapons I think? The other ship too."

Great. He best make this quick before they tried anything drastic. "Direct power to the port and starboard shields, keep our weapons offline."

"This is Captain Sandor <static> Empire aboard The Phamplet. Might I ask who we are speaking to?"

Phamplet? Seriously. Mitzil had definitely made a mistake, but he couldn't complain it was doing the job.

"I am Xitli Sacul representing the Avali of the Citalee Spacers Guild. Thank you for receiving us. Our ship, the Chico is conducting a scientific survey in the region.

I wasn't aware The Order or Empire operated in this region?" He said, trying to hide his dismay. He didn't want the Imperial ship suspecting anything.

His crew seemed more nervous. They knew their masters history, Telene herself had replaced one of the bodies they lost during their escape from the Remnant.

 

[Laphisto]

After what felt like hours a voice would finally crackle through the ships communications system "

This is Captain Sandor of The Empire aboard The Prophet. Might I ask who we are speaking to?"

"Sure the freighter is charging weapons " Sibar would speak from her pilots seat grasping the throttle and waiting for the signal to go.


Owens heart dropped, he knew it they had stumbled acrossed some imperial testing sight and they were on the verge of being fired upon his thoughts were interupted by another voice

""I am Xitli Sacul representing the Avali of the Citalee Spacers Guild. Thank you for receiving us. Our ship, the Chico is conducting a scientific survey in the region.

I wasn't aware The Order or Empire operated in this region?""

it was the unknown vessel identifying themselves as avali, which caused a puzzled look to roll over Oldus Beys face before promptly giving owen a shrug " I have nothing in our data banks identifying them nor the Spacers guild they speak of."

Owen would prop himself forwards gripping his chin before looking to Sibar "turn us towards the imperial ship keep weapons charged but do not fire unless fired upon got it?"

Waiting the a confirmation from the pilot he would take her nod as a yes his hand reaching. And pressing on the commlink to the open channel once again " we do not operate within this space, a hyperspace mis calculation had sent us off course, we had been surveying our surroundings to try and get our bearing's"

Owen would furrow his brow hoping that the imperial ship would believe their story and hopefully power down there weapon systems. Owens heart raced even against a small ship the old girl is worn and without it's retrofit for the modern galaxy

( Apologies non delay was at work)

 

[Marcus Voss]

Location: Unknown Region
Tags: Laphisto | Xitli Sacul

The Inquisitor tensed up as the ship which they'd identified as a foray class blockade runner turned towards them. Every inch they moved put him more and more on edge. It was a sign they were watching the ship and were ready to strike, a sign he wasn't comfortable with. He'd heard both transmissions from both crews, while The Lilaste Order came back to something, the Avali and the guild the ships captain spoke of were unknown to him. Perhaps with a bit of digging they'd find something.

He nodded to the captain, signalling him to respond. "Where we operate is none of your concern, Xitli of the Avali, odd to be conducting scientific research in other territories. As for you, Owen Gisk of The Lilaste Order, I'd suggest you disable your weapons. We don't want to lead to further conflict. We mean no harm."

The captain, unfortunately, was a bit more provoking then he would have hoped. Frankly, Marcus didn't know where they were, chances were they were in Eternal Empire space, which was good. There was only one place in the Unknown Region's he hoped they weren't near, Maw territory. "Lieutenant, where are we exactly?" How the though to ask did not occur to him he did not know.

"Sir, I'm afraid something's messing with our scanners and trackers, I can't seem to find our exact location. Best guess is somewhere near Odessen." Odessen was on the Maw and Eternal Empire border, if they were there, he wanted to leave. It wasn't that he was scared of the Maw, it was simply that if they were near the border, the Eternal Navy was bound to be nearby. That, or the Galactic Alliance, if thats the territory they were in.

Turning his attention back to the two ships, he awaited their responses. Along with the blockade runner disabling its weapons. Marcus wasn't a fool, he wouldn't allow anyone to stand a chance at attacking him without him being prepared. He wasn't breaking any regulations by acting in self-defence. Plus, if conflict ended up arriving at his feet, he wanted to be prepared.
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[Xitli Sacul]

Xitli flinched as reports of more power surges flooded into the bridge. His instincts were to try and de-escalate but something told him that was becoming increasingly unlikely.

Thankfully it sounded as if neither ship was yet willing, or desperate enough to open fire on the other. However, the Imperial's demands for more information didn't sit well with him. Desperately, he tried to calm the situation.

"I assure you Captain. Our intentions are peaceful, the survey consists primarily of navigational and anomalous power readings." He stopped there, interrupted by his tactical officers.

"Captain. I've lost both ships on our sensors." Xitli looked confused, had the Imperial ship spliced into their systems. Given what he already knew, that seemed unlikely.

"Bastards must be jamming us." Proclaimed the jumpy ensign. Xitli growled, having just about enough of all these accusations. Yes, they identified as Imperial. Yes, their ship had a similar design ethos, but this one hadn't immediately fired upon them and the Imperials he knew didn't ask questions.

He considered killing the Satorian before it started a war. As it turned out, he didn't have too.

"We've lost shields."

"What?! How-" The Chico buckled, the sound of a explosion rippled across their bow starting from engineering. Several consoles overloaded from a power surge that rippled across the ship. One such explosion had killed that particular Satorian, his body now disfigured by shrapnel.

Xitli lurched forward, his claws scrapped against the metal floor as the ship began to tilt. "Damage report!"

"Decks 4 through 7 report heavy damage. Gyrostabilizers are offline. Safeties in engineering have isolated the core. Atmos reports damage to the tanks, plasma is flooding the ship."

"Close all vents and lockdown bulkheads in affected areas. And someone tell me what just happened. Mitizil how are Comms?"

"Stable, for now."

"Captain Sandor. Captain Owen. We surrender, our ship is heavily damaged. Requesting support."

He had no idea who, or what attacked them it could have been the the Imperials. It could have been the Republic, but whatever the case they couldn't afford another hit.

It didn't escape him that the ships shields failed seconds before, but right now the safety of himself and the crew took priority.

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Two minutes earlier...

Skipray Blastboat

Operating on minimal power the Skipray hovered. They had been waiting in ambush for a couple of days, and when their bounty finally arrived it was intercepted by not one, but two other ships.

Either their contact intended to betray them, or the alien ship had fortune on its side. Either way, it was difficult to turn down a couple hundred thousand for a simple hit and run.

After minutes of waiting, a encrypted signal finally reached them. "Have you identified the target?"

"In our sights, but you said nothing about the imps."

"A unexpected but convenient nusiance. I trust you received the targeting data?"

"Loaded and ready, but our price has doubled."

"Fine. I've saturated the area in tachyons. Their scanners shouldn't be able to track you if you move quickly. It will buy you time. I'll be bringing the shields and defences down in a few moments. That will be your signal to strike."

"Alright. Don't expect us to stick around to pick you up. We make our run and leave, before they can get a shot on us."

The channel was terminated and expunged with no further word between them. Then as their contact had said the alien ships shields dropped.

OOC: I hope this isn't too sudden, but it seemed an opportune moment with all parties distracted and none us acting too aggressively .

Marcus Voss | Laphisto

 

[Laphisto]

Owen was focused on the request of the imperial ship he knew that they had to comply for survivability. not just for this ship in particular but for the Lilaste order as a whole. The empire had too many resources and ships if they so chose they could wipe the Lilaste order off the face of the map before they even had a chance to begin. he would continue to ponder thinking to himself and trying to come up with some sort of excuse for why they powered up weapons to begin with, A reason why his ship was here in the midst of imperial space where he had no right being. With a soft sigh, he takes a gamble

"All right we are guests within your territory, our apologies for the hostilities we had come under attack by pirates quite recently and we were unsure if this was just another ruse. As the pirates, we had encountered claimed to have been imperials"

Owen would speak the words hoping that at least the phrase would buy them some time. A frown rolled over his face before he looks to Sibar giving her a soft nod to power down the ship's weapon systems.

"We will abide by the request to power down weapons but we will keep our Shields raised at full capacity I do hope yo-"

He would be interrupted by the u known ship exploding suddenly the shockwave rocking the old foray. his eyes darting along the unknown ship and then looking back toward the imperial ship. Grunting before shouting to Sibar

" Status report what happened!"

"I don't know sir the unknown vessel seems to have exploded a possible internal failure?"

Watching the Carnage of the explosion of the ship and hearing the captain's words he would frown the conquests agenda was large enough to fit roughly 300 souls on board looking to Sibar he would order the conquests agenda towards the unknown ship weapons powered down and turn there back exposed to the imperial ship, an action that made him uneasy but he needed to get his ship into position before the other exploded any further, hailing the Avali ship owen would have Sibar scan for any sort of docking bay

" This is Qwen of the Conquests Agenda, we can hold roughly three hundred souls on board we are willing to dock to provide refuge to your crew how copy?"


[ oh not at all, quite perfect timing lol]

 

[Marcus Voss]

Location: Unknown Region
Tags: Laphisto | Xitli Sacul

Marcus waited until he was satisfied with the responses from the 2 ships, though for some odd reason the blockade runner was taking its sweet time. What Captain Owen said did confirm what Marcus thought about pirates in the area, he'd have to clear that out later. Everything seemed to be running smoothly, but something felt off.

"Captain the ship is yours, I'm going to hop in the starfighter and see if I can make contact with the Avali Captain, might be worth it to see if we can exchange information."

"Very well, Inquisitor."

As Marcus began making his way to the makeshift docking port where the TIE/HF Slasher was connected. Just then he felt the ship rock,as shouts came from the cockpit. It was hard to tell, but he heard enough, he rushed into the cockpit of the starfighter as he neared it, and activated it. There had been an explosion.

As the starfighter detached, Marcus pushed forward on the stick, bringing the starfighter to full speed and taking it forward. He wasn't the greatest pilot, but he was no novice. He turned the starfighter to see the Avali ship, up in flames. He intercepted the transmission from the Conquest's Agenda, good to see support being provided. He opened up the comm channel, realising he should probably make himself known. It seemed the Captain was ahead of him though.

"This is The Prophet to the Conquest's Agenda, be advised we have a friendly starfighter being deployed, do not fire upon it. We will provide whatever aid is necessary for the Avali ship."

Thank the gods he had competent men at his heel. As he approached the ship he noticed something zooming by, it was hard to tell, but through the wreckage it appeared a ship had just flown through. But a ship? Here? Right when an explosion had just happened aboard the Avali ship? There was only one explanation. He pushed the throttle to full speed and chased after the ship. From a distance, it looked to be a Skipray variant, though he couldn't tell.

He attempted to reach its signal as it raced away. In the hopes they would hear he transmitted. "Starship, halt in the name of The Empire, or face the consequence's." With that, his ship locked onto the skipray, and he fired off 2 missiles at the engines of the ship, unless something went wrong, it would hopefully hit it before it went into hyperspace. Just to make sure, he fired his heavy turbo lasers straight towards the ship. Now he could only hope. He demanded an explanation.​

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[Xitli Sacul]

Laphisto | Marcus Voss

((I do apologies for the delay, just moved into my new house ))

Location: Skipray Blastboat

The proton torpedo slammed into the armoured underbelly missing the target they had been assigned, a last-minute decision caused the gunship to veer off target despite penetrating deep enough to cause structural damage. In response, automated failsafes triggered severing overloading power lines and isolating decks. Had they hit their intended target, the engine room much of these systems would have failed or been activated too late.

But the element of surprise was gone, and the Captain had to hope their client wouldn't be displeased. What they didn't expect, as an Imperial Interceptor. "We're being told to stand down by an Imperial Interceptor."

"Imperial Interceptor?" He asked quizzically.

"They must have launched shortly before our attack, your orders?"

"Karrade get in the gunner seat and keep him off us until we can make the jump. I think that'll answer his question."

Soon enough the Skipray would begin targetting the Interceptor utilising its Laser Cannon although their aim left much to be desired, they hadn't come expecting a fight.

Detecting the target lock the crew responded by activating a flared pod, the first veered off the target detonating prematurely but the second hit its mark causing damage to one of the engines. Their speed dropped dramatically, and after a few glancing hits, the turbolaser finished the job disabling their powerplant.

---

Xitli listened as a dozen or so independent damage reports began flooding into the central consoles, the lights eventually flickered before bathing them in red light as backup power took on the load. The batteries would last them 48 hours, assuming they had escaped the sabotage. Heads would roll for this.

"Qwen. Thank you, we will transmit docking codes. I'll have my non-essential staff waiting for evac. Be aware that I suspect sabotage, take whatever security precautions you deem necessary." He nodded at Metizil who flicking a switch began to transmit their codes. "Anything else?"

"I've done my best to close ventilation but not all systems are responding, and damage control teams are having to manually activate safeguards. The scrubbers will last about 8 hours after that compartments are at risk of exposure. We can either continue as we are, or I can order my teams to ignite it."

"That'll kill anyone on those decks. Telene included. If we're going to get home we will need our Chief Engineer. She might know who betrayed us!" Mitizil hissed

"She is as expendable as the rest of us. Xitli will find another. When the plasma hits engineering the crystals will be contaminated and we'll be stranded."

Xitli flinches he valued his Satorians, even if some of them were incompetent and how would any future partner react if she discovered he sacrificed them for convenience?

"Keep the scrubbers running, and dedicate damage control teams to search and rescue efforts. I expect you to coordinate them personally."

"Sir." She responded taking her to leave from the deck. Xitli sighed with relief giving a glance to Metizil, "Thank you, Captain."

"Please inform Captain Qwen I'll meet his team at the docking tube, and direct any enquiries from the Imperials my way but if they request permission to dock I see no reason to refuse them."

 

[Laphisto]

Before Sibar had any time to report the launching of a fighter the captain of the Prophets' voice rang out in the ship's intercom, what seemed at first to be a possibility of attack the moment their back was turned added into a sigh of relief " understood Prophet, the Agenda hears you clearly, a friendly fighter in our AO. looking over the damage the ship took it was only now apparent just how bad it was, debris and shards of metal bounced off the Agendas hull as Sibar maneuvered them through the already forming debris field. hearing the Avali captain give clearance codes and the works of possible sabotage would have him call out on a Private Channel towards the three Squads of soldiers onboard the Agenda.

it was no easy work trying not to hit the scrap metal strewn about, but once the agenda arrived at the docking port, the 115-meter ship would extend its docking clamps with the airlock. after what felt like several minutes the door would finally be pushed open. the ready refugees were met with twenty-seven armed men, of various humanoid species equipped in LO-56A armor wielding a variety of weapons from mid, long, and even a few heavy weapons are thrown in there. the first thing each refugee was told to do before entering the ship was to hand over any and all devices within there possession from communicators, notepads, briefcases, bags everything that could be unequipped and removed from their person besides the clothes on their back

with a line forming by this point each person that passed inspection would be escorted to a quarter and locked within, Owen seemingly not taking any chances with a would-be saboteur on his ship. at the end of the makeshift security checkpoint, Owen would be standing arms crossed awaiting the captain of the ship to pass through

[ all good!]

 

[Marcus Voss]

Location: Unknown Region
Tags: Laphisto | Xitli Sacul

Marcus slowly lifted his hand off the trigger as the skipray went into a drifting state. His best guess was that his shots had disabled the generator, hence why the ship had ceased firing back. He flew around the ship as he analysed the damage. Nothing to heavy, certainly not enough to kill the crew. This way they'd be able to interrogate them, though first he had a more immediate task.

He keyed his comm hastily "Prophet this is Inquisitor Voss. Dock with the skipray and prepare a boarding party. After, proceed to talk with Captain Qwen's ship. We'll board the skipray and take the crew prisoner." His orders were clear, and just as expected. They were carried out. He flew to The Prophet and docked in one of its docking ports. Quickly, he jumped out of his cockpit and through the hatch onto the ship, where a group of 10 operatives stood, prepared.

Nodding in their direction, he walked past them and to the other docking port. The ship shifted slightly as it docked to the small vessel, but the docking was complete in no time. He nodded to the Captain, as his operatives raised their weapons at the hatch. "This is The Prophet, of the Empire. Surrender yourselves to us or risk the full consequences." The captains voice rang through the intercom as an operative held a datapad, with the controls for the hatch ready at a moments notice. Now, they just needed a response.​

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[Xitli Sacul]

Travelling the Chico in lower power was a annoying affair, whichever way he went some bulkhead or turbolift was either malfunctioning or in a state of disrepair. Thankfully, morale seemed high given the circumstances.

The trip to meet Captain Owen would take an extra twelve minutes by his count.

When he arrived, Xitli was pleased to see his warning had been taken seriously. It was a dreadful thought that whomever sabotaged them might try the same with a foreign power.

The creatures who came to their rescue were bipedal, about twice the size of his servants. Taller than he honestly expected, centuries of bureaucracy hadn't done the archives any favours.

He looked for the most decorated amongst them, and presumed they to be the Captain he had been speaking too.

"Captain Owen. I am Xitli, Captain of Chico." He spoke plainly, trying to avoid any harshness that might be misinterpreted as aggression.

Nearby several Satorian's bowed in his direction as they continued along their journey. "I see your servants operate efficiently." He added in reference to the checkpoints.

The Satorian's here, to his relief were primarily technicians and non-essential staff. Although he did spot one or two engineers he would need to reprimand later.

"Found anything?" He was doubtful, but it didn't hurt to ask.

Laphisto

---

The pirate crew steadied themselves, in preparation for the boarding party they had established a small but effective barricade even activating a couple of cyromines that should at least disorientate the invaders.

It was a tactic to buy time, with a couple of grunts on the barricades to hold the line, equipped with E-11 Blasters. Two more in the cockpit to try and repair the damage. A fruitless effort for them, but all were sacrificial lambs if it secured their freedom. It was a bigger cut.

The Captain and his lieutenant meanwhile were below deck, exchanging clothes with the burnt and damaged remains of former prisoners. If all went to plan, they would be mistaken for prisoners, or hostages.

He took the opportunity offered by The Prophet to respond, "Prophet we ain't got no qualm with you. Leave us be and we'll be on our way, attack and you'll lose men."

"Help! They've-"

Smack

He terminated the transmission, glancing at his lieutenant. "Seed planted, just got to play our part and keep it cool." He said concealing their original clothes behind a panel once used to smuggle spice and other narcotics.

Marcus Voss

 

[Laphisto]

owen would be standing with a data pad in hand his soldiers continuing to confiscate and lock the crew into rooms when the capital showed up he would look up from his datapad "captain it's a pleasure to have you on board, these are not my servants but my soldiers. as for anything we have found we have been putting it into a storage room in the armory. I will lead you there, maybe you can pick through and identify what we have. we haven't had time to go over what has been confiscated, let alone do we know much of what any of it says. none of us can truly read your language" handing his datapad over to another man owen would point to a few key points on the datapad " Luetenat Fenn take over the checkpoint ill take out guest to the armory and see what we can identify"

as they began to walk owen would turn to the avali " what brings you to this section of space? I can't say iv ever seen anything like your people before. let alone have we ever seen a sip such as that" Owens mind would begin to wander, sure the unknown regions of space had their mystories but one would think with the empire in control they would have found just about everything there is to find out here. maybe this creature knew or had at least seen the Traycn in its sunlight journey. the ship had been wondering for nearly five thousand years, surely it would have come crossed some species or civilization maybe these people had done just that or at least heard of it

Xitli Sacul Marcus Voss

 

[Marcus Voss]

Location: Unknown Region
Tags: Laphisto | Xitli Sacul

Marcus raised his hand in the air, signalling the soldiers to get ready to breach. As they waited for everyone to be prepared, 4 soldiers rushed to the front, carrying massive shields to block the incoming blaster fire. As far as everyone was concerned, this was a standard boarding, this was what they were trained for. "Weapons set to stun, I want every man and women in the ship alive." He could sense the disappointment from his men, but the victims of their attack deserved the right to decide their consequence.

Most of the operatives holstered their blasters, retrieving stun batons. Within a matter of moments, everyone was prepared. Marcus's hand flew down as the door was opened and the shields rushed to the opening. A wave of blaster fire came to the opening, but it was all blocked. Like a well oiled machine, the unit worked in unison, stun grenades and ABDG-01x Null Grenades were thrown into the skipray, and as soon as they went off, the shields rushed in, stun batons in hand.

They rushed through the barricades, knocking all hostiles to the ground as the pirates realised their blasters weren't working. Within a matter of seconds, the cockpit had been taken, and the entire crew was knocked to the ground, detained by the Imperial operatives. "Bring everything you find useful onto the ship, along with the prisoners." He shouted as his menacing self entered the ship. His black mask gazing into the soul of everyone there.

Accompanied by two men, Marcus journeyed below deck to search the rest of the ship. The effects of the null grenades had worn off, and the operatives now had their weapons out. Marcus had no need for them though, his Inquisitors cloak flowing behind him. As they reached below deck, they found two men, looking to be shaken or something similar. They appeared to be in prisoner clothing, perhaps they had been taken. He would be the judge of that. The operatives held them at gunpoint as he spoke. "You two, keep your hands raised and accompany these two men. We will hear your stories on my ship." Two more men came down to search the rest of the place, maybe they'd find some clue as to what happened. It was odd how they weren't in cuffs though. With that, Marcus walked back into his ship, as he awaited for his men to finish, standing beside the prisoners.

The captain made contact with the other ships. "This is The Prophet, requesting permission to talk with The Chico, we have the men responsible for this tragedy in custody. We await your response."
​

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[Xitli Sacul]

Xitli paused, carefully considering his response to the questions presented to him by Captain Owen. The mention of soldiers confused him, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind. Captain Owen's relationship with his crew was none of his concern. His command of the Galatic Standard still left much to be desired, so instead, he opted for something more universal.

~I owe you thanks; for your assistance.~ He projected into the Captain's mind, ~With regards to language, that is a barrier we share. I've tried my best to learn your Galactic Standard but some concepts remain foreign to me. This might prove a more effective way for me to communicate.~ He began following the Captain as he led them forward, making sure not to make any sudden moves. He recognised blasters when he saw them.

~What I said is true. We are a science ship investigating a power signature my people detected two years past. So far, we haven't had much luck, but one does not refuse a gift from his seniors. That aside, this would be my people's first contact since before the Gulag Plague, and I have no interest in starting a war with either the 'Empire' or this Lilaste Order.~

---

Xitli paused, a message being directed to his communicator. A mechanical device wrapped around his wrist like a bracer, "Prophet, we are receiving you. I'm glad to hear you were able to apprehend the culprits, I assume they're pirates or mercenaries? I would ordinarily ask you to transfer them to our ship for questioning, but we are currently dealing with several plasma leaks. I'd be happy to take any suggestions?"

Laphisto | Marcus Voss

 

[Laphisto]

when the avalli spoke or attempted to speak within Owens's mind there would be a strange barrier almost like a fog covering his mind and so he wouldn't really react to anything the captain said up until the communicator blinked and he began using his words once again. " a ship? how did we not pick them up on our sensors?, then again the Agenda hasn't had any modifications as of yet, we have a brig we can lock the prisoners in if you would prefer, or the prophet can hold onto them"

reaching the armory and placing his hand on a bio scanner the door would open, three soldiers positioned within and a crate filled with communicators, data pads, clipboards, and other trinkets, basically anything that wasn't clothing on their body was confiscated was taken and placed within the armory " this here is everything that's been confiscated thus far. have a look and let me know if anything out of place, we have several combat engineers that we can send over to assist in repairs and evacuations as well"