Bringing the Old Girl Back to Life (Hammerhead Class Salvage Refit)

[Wan Min Brightsky]

Location: Orbital dry docks above Ryloth

Admiral Brightsky, commander of the Rebel Alliance fleet and part-time salvage operator, smiled as she quickly walked down a broad hallway with windows looking out on space and the dry dock complex. It had been months since she had the chance to come to Ryloth and look at the fruits of her labor. The Indefatigable, an Old Republic Hammerhead-Class Cruiser that she had salvaged with [member="Alena"], hung in the middle of a spider's web of scaffolding. One of the benefits of being the head of the Rebel Alliance's new fleet was access to shipyards, and one of the first things that she did was have the Indefatigable brought here to begin the rebuilding process. She felt a bit guilty using the shipyards for something other than official business, but Admiral Xue did not seem to mind and her old friend, Genevive, was too busy running a galaxy to notice one filled dry dock slip.

Min stopped at a gangway entrance and showed her identification to the guard.

"Admiral Brightsky, here to observe the reconstruction of the Indefatigable," she said, flashing her identification badge. The guard nodded and waved her through. She made her way down the bright white tunnel and flipped a small toggle switch, opening the doors to her prized ship.

As she entered, she could see teams of engineers and laborers moving debris and plascrete crates. The scorch marks on the walls from the ancient combat still stood out against the flat white of the Old Republic cruiser's hallways. The doors all seemed to be functioning properly as she made her way to the bridge.

Where before she and her salvage mates had to stand in pressure suits on the bridge, now she could see it up close without a space suit and gloves. On the bridge, the master shipwright was going over the blueprints at the center console. He was visibly frustrated. Min smiled and touched one of the activated consoles just off to his side. She felt a strong connection to the ship and its long dead crew. The old captain, Jaleer Valik, was something of a kindred spirit to her. She had read his logs when she was preparing to take command of the Rebel Alliance fleet and felt a strong tie to him and his experiences. As such, she felt a sentimental attachment to the Indefatigable.

She walked up to the master engineer and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Mister Passos? I'm Admiral Brightsky, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Min said as she reached out and shook his hand. The engineer nodded and gave her a curt smile.

"Miss Brightsky, thank you for coming all this way back to Ryloth. It's been an interesting few months' work, that much is for certain. This ship is a credit mine of Old Republic technology. Your directions were fairly vague, ma'am, what is it that we are doing here?"

Min looked over the blueprints and came upon the designations for the engines.

"I know it's a long shot, Mister Passos, but I want us to make this into the prototype of a new class of cruiser for the Rebel Alliance. We want to find a design that we can modify into an assault type cruiser and a balanced cruiser."

The engineer grimaced slightly and looked at the engines as well.

"Well, we've been finishing up work on the Rieekan-Class over in the main shipyards, so after we're done with the rebuild I think we can take her over there and start outfitting her."

Min smiled and looked over the designs.

"I've got some modifications that I want made to her. Specifically, we need the strongest shield grid that you can install in a ship this size, updated weapons, a brand new power core, and I want brand new engines. I want this as maneuverable as a CR90 and just as fast. A new Class I hyperdrive."

Passos shook his head.

"Miss Brightsky, if you want that why not just call Rendili and order one up? Putting all this time and effort into rebuilding something as old and, frankly, broken apart as this seems like a waste of Alliance resources."

Min smiled wistfully and patted the central display.

"Because this is an act of love as much as an act of military necessity Mister Passos. The Indefatigable is a symbol of a much earlier age, a more...civilized age. One that we hope to restore in the Alliance. A ship like this and the ships that will come after her are more than vessels of war."

The engineer shrugged his shoulders. He was visibly confused, but understood where she was coming from.

"Alright Miss Brightsky, I might not agree but you are the boss and your word is law."

Min smiled broadly and patted him on the shoulder.

"Are the communications working Mister Passos?"

He gestured to the communications station near the front of the bridge.

"The comm tower was made operational this morning. We've got everything down to shortwave radio if you need it."

She glanced over at the comm station. "Perfect, thank you Mister Passos. Give me a few minutes to call someone and we can get back to work, eh?"

Min walked over to the communications station and keyed in the one person who she wanted to work on this.

"Ale, it's Minnie. I've got something that I want you to see, if you have the time. Come to the dry dock in orbit of Ryloth."

With that, she sent out communiques to Solan, Armand, and Admiral Xue to come to the Indefatigable so they could go over the new ship specifications. She was also excited to bring Armand on board again, as he had helped her and Alena to salvage it in the first place. She hit the 'Transmit' button and sent her messages out.

[member="Alena"] [member="Krasnaya Xue"] [member="Solan Charr"] [member="Armand Temi"] [member="Thane Drexel"]

((OOC: Original Salvage thread located here: http://starwarsrp.net/topic/48083-unknown-regions-salvage-open/))

 

[Thane Drexel]

Walking in to the station security checkpoint, Thane set off every scanner they had with his weapons, armor, and flask of whiskey. He showed his rank as Captain and they allowed him to pass. Yet, eyes rolled when they found out the drunk who brought down the Ravens at the Massacre of Makeb was made Captain. He brushed it off and took a big swig in front of the head security officer.

Walking to the engineers quarters, Thane donned a vac-suit and exited with a satchel of tools into the vast emptiness that was space. He pushed off the docking platform and headed straight for the bridge. Turning himself over, he landed feet first on the viewport. He looked inside and saw Admiral [member="Wan Min Brightsky"] speaking with the shipmaster. He tapped on the transparasteel and waved to the admiral. Thane pulled out a splicer and began rewiring the small systems that had been damaged in the recent fight.

Wan Min would get a good biew of Thane's vac-suit crotch.

 

[Wan Min Brightsky]

Location:
Bridge of the RAV Indefatigable, Ryloth Dry Docks

Min chuckled and pinched the bridge of her nose as she looked through the viewport, observing Captain Drexel's vac-suited torso.

"Remind me never to let him drink before he goes to work on a salvage mission," she said in an annoyed tone to the shipwright.

The two of them walked back over to the center console and looked over the schematics.

"Alright Mister Passos, here's what I'm aiming for: I want us to be able to use this like a corvette if need be. The engines need to get overhauled and we need to bring it up nearly to CR90 speeds for fast escort missions. The turbolasers need to be totally overhauled along with the anti-ship launchers. I want this as balanced as possible."

The shipwright's face reflected in the glass surface of the display console, eyes reflected dully in the almost clinical lighting of the bridge. He scrutinized the power conduit overlay and stared off into space for a second before replying.

"Miss Brightsky, we're going to need a new set of engines for that. At the very least, with that type of energy demand the ship is going to need some sort of advanced power generation system."

Min nodded in agreement.

"Then I'll have you start looking on the open market for some new power generators. I think our friends over at the Vitae might have something. Let me give them a call and we can go over it further."

[member="Alena"] [member="Krasnaya Xue"] [member="Solan Charr"] [member="Armand Temi"] [member="Thane Drexel"]

 

[Alena Reckar]

Alena smoothed the front of her gown, trying futilely to press out a wrinkle with the palm of her hand. The dress was a light shade of green, soft and trimmed with yellow at the hem. It was sleeveless, showing the pale blue sheen of her shoulders and arms. Her red eyes, dim due to the mixed nature of her lineage, flashed as she blinked nervously. The turbolift was taking her up to the dry dock set aside for the Indefatigable, the Hammerhead-class Cruiser herself and Wan Min's team had successfully salvaged during the onset of the Rapture.
Calm down, the voice inside her head was crying with a pained expression on its imaginary face. She could only sigh in return, trying to flush the nerves out of her. Ever since Geonosis, which was the last time she'd seen Wan Min, Alena had been shaken and distraught, the result of her short-lived experience on the dusty planet. The battle had been atrocious, and while she felt nothing for the droid armies of the ACA, she'd watched her own allies, many of whom she at least knew by name, die by the score, cut down by the lasers and blown to pieces by the grenades of the mechanical ranks.
Her superiors kept saying that all that mattered was they'd won the planet, won the day, but Alena could give a kriff about the planet, about the day. Fruitless were the spoils of war, she decided, pushing her further into the self-designed cocoon of pacifism she'd woven around her heart. Never again, she vowed. Some of her fellow soldiers, with whom she'd shared her thoughts and feelings, had brushed her off. War is a man's game, they said, a ridiculous notion that couldn't have been further from the truth. Alena understood war, she understood conflict, almost better than any of the rest of them. But the conclusion she reached about it was...different.

The turbolift door binged open, causing Alena to jump with fright. That was the same bing sound made by the droids' thermal detonator grenades just before they triggered and went off. Alena felt her head swim and she leaned against the side of the carriage so long the doors began to close on her once more. Her vision blurred, but she saw Wan Min in the hallway beyond, and her arm rose and slapped the door back open. Staggering out of the lift somewhat, Alena held her head in her hand and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force out the memories that raped her senses.
"Wan Min," Alena muttered weakly, stepping forward as she began to recover from the episode. Ever since Geonosis, when she thought she might never see or speak to Wan Min again, Alena's mind had been a torrent of self-deprecating thoughts and emotions. Her struggle had been in taking the right action and her inability to do anything save pull the trigger on a rifle she didn't want to destroy things and people she didn't want dead to begin with. It festered and rotted in her brain and ate away at her heart. The Rebel Alliance had fought a war on Geonosis and thousands had died. And what had changed?
Not a kriffing thing.

Alena heard her short heels click quietly on the deck plating below her as she approached Wan Min. Does she even still want me? Alena thought, she'd hardly talked to the woman in the months since the Rapture. Minnie had been serving the Rebel Alliance so diligently and never had time for anything outside of whatever work it was she did. In truth, Alena had only stayed with the Rebellion because they'd adopted the woman she...the woman she what? Alena hardly had a clue, Wan Min was her own woman and Alena had no right to ask her to leave the Alliance on account of her. They deserve her more than I do, Alena thought, recoiling mentally at how much she loathed herself. "Minnie," Alena mumbled as she approached the other woman from behind. Wan Min was staring out at her prize vessel, a look of noticeable wonder and awe in her eyes.

[member="Wan Min Brightsky"]

 

[Wan Min Brightsky]

It had been a long few months for Min, long mentally and long chronologically. She had spent most of her life running from responsibilities like this, like those that had been given to her by the Rebels. When given the chance to take up her father's place at Brightsky Shipping after college, she liquidated the company. When she had the chance to keep her mouth shut and keep her position at Coruscant University, she spoke up and lost her dream job. Then, when everything seemed like it was clicking into place with Alena, she received that fateful call from the Rebel Alliance and was on her way to Ryloth and the fleet.

Now, after months of fighting in the Outer Rim and on Geonosis, she found herself standing in a dry dock looking out on the fruits of her and Alena's labors. The Indefatigable was almost done with its refit. Even its old fighters and shuttles had been returned to factory condition. But, there was one thing that it didn't have: Alena. After everything that she had been through, she just wanted to turn in her uniform and go back to having a quiet life with her Ale. That had been why she sent her the message and that was why she secretly prayed that she would give her a reason to leave.

When she saw her before the Geonosis battle she couldn't say much of anything to her. She had been in admiral mode and could only be curt and short with her when all she wanted was to throw her arms around Alena and run away. This might be her last chance.

"Minnie," she heard a meek voice say behind her. Min turned around and saw Alena Reckar, the one woman who she truly loved, standing behind her. She had a look of hesitation and even fear in her eyes. The hesitation Min could understand, but the fear. They needed to talk.

"Ale? Oh Ale! I missed you so much!" Min exclaimed as she threw her arms around her old friend. She held onto her as tightly as she could.

She broke the embrace long enough to look her in the eyes.

"Ale, babe, I'm so sorry that we haven't spoken. I...I can't even begin to apologize. We have so much to talk about. Come on, let's go over to the Indefatigable for a while."

[member="Alena Reckar"]

 

[Alena Reckar]

Internally Alena recoiled from Wan Min's touch, her mind reeling as the other woman wrapped her in a pair of arms. Externally, Alena remained frozen, accepting her old friend's touch with a blank face. All Alena felt as Wan Min let her go was relief, a realisation that crushed Alena's heart. Yet there was this broken part of her mind that had grown to overpower the rest of her being, a part of her that was in control, one she couldn't fight. Geonosis had broken her mind, and Alena was starting to forget anything even felt wrong with her. She was swiftly growing accustomed to the stress, the reactivity, the breakdowns. It'd been weeks and she spent every night crying herself to sleep. Alena was too oblivious to even hide it from those around her.
Wan Min locked her gaze on Alena, but the Chiss woman couldn't return the attention. Her dimly glowing red eyes dodged Wan Min's own. "I know," Alena muttered, "It's been a while. You...don't have to be...sorry." She concluded, turning her gaze toward the Indefatigable. "It's almost done." She stated matter-of-factly, her voice bereft of tone.

[member=DasGeneral]​

 

[Wan Min Brightsky]

Min smiled and nodded. She could tell that Alena was trying to maintain distance and space between the two of them. It had most likely been a tough few months for her too. Nothing more really needed to be said. She placed her hand on Alena's shoulder and guided her out into the hallway and away from the work crews.

"Ale, I know it might be too little too late, but I decided to leave the Rebel Alliance...for good. I want to get back out into the galaxy. But more importantly, I want to spend time with you. I'm so sorry things got karked up. Let's run away. Take the Indefatigable and get out of here. The Rebels have started to collapse Ale, and I don't want to be here when everything falls apart. I don't want to be without you."

Min placed her hand on Alena's waist and kissed her cheek softly. She waited for her response.

[member="Alena Reckar"]

 

[Alena Reckar]

Alena's brow furrowed and she felt, at first, merely confused and left behind. "L-leave??" She asked, her voice exasperated. "We, just got here!" Alena retorted vehemently. She pulled Min's hand from her shoulder. "After all that discussion? All that grief you put me through, and now you just want to leave?" Alena felt anger rising in her chest, and a heat flashed across her neck cheeks. Thankfully Wan Min wouldn't be able to see it thanks to the blued hue of her skin. "Wan Min...I..." Alena sighed after a moment. The Rebel Alliance held nothing for her. No friends, no family, no...future. Her future was about to walk out the door. I suppose I better follow it, Alena thought to herself, reaching for Wan Min's hand. "Where to then?" She asked, entirely unsure about what her future had in store for her.

[member="Wan Min Brightsky"]

 

[Wan Min Brightsky]

Min nodded slightly, a small smile curled in the right corner of her mouth. She had been alone for too long, the responsibilities and pressures of command had turned her into a shadow of her formerly perky self. The idea of being on her own again with a friend was all she wanted now. Running away was preferable to waiting for the Rebels to collapse.

"We're going to go back to where everything started: The debris field where we found the Indefatigable. I can activate the automation and order the reconstruction teams out of the ship. She's basically done anyway. The automation was finished weeks ago. We won't have a full upgrade of the weapons systems but it's better than nothing."

"The two of us can leave on our own and pilot the ship. I've been in touch with the captain of the RAV Justice, and he and his crew are as fed up with the Alliance as we are. I'll send him a message and coordinates to jump to. At least we'll have an ally, I guess. It's a better situation than we had before."

Alena nodded her head in agreement. Min reached over to a small console and flipped a toggle activating the comm.

"Mister Passos, work crews, this is Admiral Brightsky. There's been an emergency situation and Alliance Command has ordered me to take the Indefatigable out of dry dock to respond. This is a priority one order. Please make your way to emergency exits at once, we will pick up crew along the way."

Min threw a small red switch and activated the emergency klaxon. She deactivated the internal and external comm lines except for hers.

The two women could hear the work crews rushing out of the old Hammerhead Class as they prepared to make their escape. After five minutes the sound of clomping feet died down to a dull echo as the last of the crews exited the ship. Min checked the internal sensors; they were the last two left on board. She nodded to Alena and motioned towards the bridge.

The two women made their way to the now empty bridge. Months of effort had paid off as the Indefatigable's bridge was in pristine condition. The navigational systems, engines, life support, weapons, and every other system appeared to be in working order. It appeared as if some of the secondary systems were still in need of overhaul, but for the most part the ship appeared just as it had been on the day that it launched from a Republic shipyard above Corellia.

Min motioned to Alena to take the engineering station as she took the helm. Her fingers ran over the keyboard as she disconnected external power and life support lines. She activated all of the internal systems and brought the ship to life. A low hum filled the bridge as the Indefatigable prepared to make its first independent space flight in millennia. She looked over and smiled at Alena who appeared just as concerned and nervous as before, an apprehensive look on her face.

"Here goes nothing..." Min said quietly to no one as she activated the engines and maneuvered the Indefatigable out of the dry dock. The ship flew beautifully with no real problems. She straightened her back, squared her shoulders, and put a defiant look on her face as she activated the hyperdrive and jumped out off the Ryloth system and into the unknown...

[member="Alena Reckar"]