Coat of Fire, Coat of Blood

[TB-705]

When the First Order patrol corvette Anemoi made a routine stop of the small freighter Adenn, the first question the Imperial captain fielded concerned why a ship with a Mandalorian transponder would be so far out in Sanctuary Pipeline.

The answer became quite obvious when they docked with the ship.

The airlock hissed open. Thengil Ri'shajirr stood in the gangway, only he did not look like the same Sith who spent a decade on a Republic prison ship. Orange armor covered him from head to toe and he wore a distinctive helmet with a t-visor recognizable anywhere in the galaxy.

He also appeared to be entirely unarmed.

The four stormtroopers waiting on the other side of the airlock raised their blaster rifles. Behind them stood a human male in a black officer's uniform, with hands clasped behind his back.

"Hands in the air," the officer commanded.

Thengil raised them.

"You are a member of the Mandalorian Clans." A statement.

Thengil nodded.

"What is your purpose in First Order space?"

"Fire."

"Excuse me?"

"Fire," Thengil growled again, the word transmitted through his helmet's comm to the only other person on board the freighter Adenn.

The task given to him by the lords entailed very precise instructions. No use of the Force, or any other signature devices. Only conventional, Mandalorian weaponry. He wore armor fashioned from durasteel, not beskar. A cheap ruse. The lords also instructed him to use codename. His was Blood. His companion's was Fire.

His companion also happened to be a seven foot red-scaled Barabel in Mandalorian armor.

[member="Vulkan"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Vulkan sat aboard the ship in relative solitude. The trip was simple and easy, and his companion, feral as he appeared respected the Sith's privacy as they traveled. The ressurrected Sith Lord sat, weakened, a pale mockery of what once was in a meditative trance for most of the flight across space. Hate boiled off of him like a tide as Vulkan reflected on how easy it had been once, and how low he had fallen. How much the reptillian loathed his new overlords that would have once been mere, unnoticeable playthings.

The being's presence folded in upon itself, closing away as best as the acolyte could manage. Not that anyone beyond one @Ashin Varanin would recognize him regardless, but the mission parameters set by his current overlords required him to act as another, to hide his true nature. Beneath his armor a taozin amulet lay over the ritual scar on his chest that had beckoned him from the beyond into this mortal coil. Blackened eyes flicked open at the call from his feline companion, translucent films slowly retracting across his eyes as Vulkan glared at the Storm Troopers behind a T-Visor.

Anger and rage seeped into his veins, the most subtle twinges of fear flickered at the edge of his senses, teasing him like a Zeltron Cafarel does with a feather. A sickening smile twisted on his face as the massive reptilian regarded the Storm Troopers like a hungry man regards a juicy steak. Thick tail corded in sinew and muscle danced from side to side excitedly before the being spoke. "And Blood." Clawed crushgaunts gave a distinctive snik as the claws extended, much like his own.

[member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"]

 

[Progflaw99]

--- --- --- --- --- ---​

Location: Sanctuary Pipeline, First Order Space​

Vessel: FIV Arrogant, Corsair-Class Gunship Corvette​

Status: Patrolling​

In Vicinity: [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] | [member="Vulkan"]​

--- --- --- --- --- ---​

​

Captain's log: Entry 291038173. Patrolling Sanctuary pipeline, no unusual contact for three days. Made a stop at Riflor for re-equip and shore leave as referenced in Entry 291038170. Maintaining course along Sanctuary Pipleline towards the border of FO space...

A sharp chirp sounded at the door to the Captain's ready room, interrupting his report.

"Come in." the Commander spoke, his voice raised.

With a quiet hiss the door opened, a junior officer standing at attention just outside. The young man stepped briskly in and stood in front of the miniaturized durasteel desk Commander Maxim was seated at.

"Officer of the watch reports unknown vessel not far from our position. Five minutes off our starboard bow sir, Mandalorian signal."

Raising his hand to his chin the Commander grimaced. Mandalorians, if First Order Space? What would they be doing out this far? Personally Commander Maxim had limited knowledge when it came to Mandalorians, and he'd never seen one. It helped that they tended to remain on their side of the Galaxy. He found it somewhat unsettling that they'd ventured this far towards First Order space. Eyes locking with those of his junior officer he issued a quick command.

"Set course, I want us there post-haste. Any other Order vessels in the area?"

Replying curtly the junior officer clicked his heels before turning to carry out the Commander's orders.

"Just one, a patrol corvette. It appears they're even closer, maybe even there already sir."

They would arrive shortly. Rising from his seat and exiting his ready room he found himself on the bridge, the officers snapping to attention as he gazed out from the transparisteel viewports and grabbed the small handset next to the comm station. Keying up, he spoke to the entire crew as they prepared the ship for a short hyperspace jump. Above the hum of the engines his voice cut through.

"This is the Captain. Set Condition Yellow aboard the ship, all hands at battle stations. Hyperspace jump in one minute."

Cutting off his transmission, Commander Gerhard Maxim of the First Order Navy, Captain of the FIV Arrogant, replaced the handset. Turning to the officer at the comm station beside him, he issued one more command before taking his place front and center on the bridge.

"Wake my XO, and get me a line to that ship."

Immediately a page went over the intercom.

:: Lieutenant Greve to the bridge. Lieutenant Greve to the bridge. Condition yellow is in effect. I say again, condition yellow is in effect.::

Manipulating a few more controls, the FIV Arrogant sent an encrypted transmission towards the FIV Anemoi.

:: FIV Anemoi, this is the First Imperial Vessel Arrogant. Please respond. Unknown vessel transmitting known Mandalorian signatures near your position. ::

The transmission sent, the FIV Arrogant was now ready for the jump. Engines ready and the course plotted, the vessel jumped to hyperspace towards the unknown ship.

 

[TB-705]

Thengil's helm shifted toward [member="Vulkan"], then back to the stormtroopers. The Cathar bent his knees. Muscles bunched together, coiled tight as a viper. He pounced.

The nearest soldier got a shot off and Thengil's durasteel breastplate screeched discordantly as a bolt of plasma scored a black furrow along the outer edge. The feline knocked the blaster barrel away with one gauntleted paw, while the other seized the hapless trooper by the front of his helmet and hurled him back into his companions.

Another leap and Thengil came alive among them, claws ripping, fingers crushing. Frenetic with the power over life. The pathetic plastics of the Imperials afforded little protection. He reached out, seized a stormtrooper by the forearm, squeezed until the bone beneath the plastoid fractured audibly, then swung the man into the wall. On impact, Thengil felt a sudden pop and give in the arm as the shoulder dislocated. A sharp pain flashed in his right leg. He let go of the limp trooper's arm and whirled. Durasteel backed claws slashed through body glove and into the tissues of a throat. Blood jetted.

Beneath the helm, he issued a muffled roar of challenge.

On the Imperial comm lines, the surviving members of the squad screamed about crushgaunts and Mandalorian attackers.

[member="Gerhard Maxim"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Vulkan watched as his compatriot leaped into battle, a mass of duraplast, fur, and muscle assaulting the first set of Stormtroopers. Behind the Cathar, the Barabel slithered forward, dropping to all fours as he ran, bounding across the short space with a predatory gait, hugging the wall of the corridor as he advanced behind the Cathar Sith.

The disgraced Sith Lord drove his armored shoulder into the remaining Storm Trooper, a loud crack and crunch resonating from the pair as the man was driven into the wall. Plastic armor popped and splintered against beskar as the trooper, barely a third of Sergon's body's size took the full force of the reptilians assault. The trooper gasped as the air was driven from his lungs, a slight gurgle as his ribs punctured his lungs.

The reptilian's eyes rolled in his head, turning to face the next threat, several crewmen in fatigue seeing their comrades torn to shreds and smashed against walls. The Barabel pulled away from the trooper, letting him slide down the wall as the Sith reached for the Mandalorian Ripper on his side. Energy enveloped bolts tore from the muzzle, not entirely accurate, but in rapid succession and designed to tear apart Storm Trooper armor.

With a loud thwack, the barabel's muscular tail swept hard to the side, smashing the downed Storm Troopers head, beskar plate and thick corded muscles of a crocodilian-like tail leaving the helmet in broken pieces.

Screams of terror and surprise rose from the throats of those witnessing the act, the assault of what appeared to be a pair of alien Mandalorian warriors intent on commandeering the patrol corvette. The scent of fear tickled his nostrils, pheromones of adrenaline filling the air around him. More would follow.

"Oya ner Vod... Hunt well." The hissing whisper from the Sith's throat croaked across the pair's comlink. He was aware enough to know that intercepting and decryption wouldn't happen while they were attacking the ship, but the little black box would likely have a solid copy of their conversations while they were stalking the corridors of the First Order corvette.

[member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] [member="Gerhard Maxim"]

 

[Progflaw99]

--- --- --- --- --- ---​

Location: Sanctuary Pipeline, First Order Space​

Vessel: FIV Arrogant, Corsair-Class Gunship Corvette​

Status: En Route to Unknown Vessel​

In Vicinity: [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] | [member="Vulkan"]​

--- --- --- --- --- ---​

​

It had taken the FIV Arrogant a full 6 minutes to travel the short distance between their original location and the location of the unidentified vessel. They'd attempted a hail of their vessel but hadn't yet received a response. *Damn comm lines* thought Commander Maxim to himself. They'd worked out a lot of the ghosts in the system but since the test they'd conducted near Riflor involving gravity well generators the Corsair-class Gunship Corvette had been plagued with comm scatter. Attributing the patrol vessel's lack of response to their own bugs, the Arrogant dropped from hyperspace several hundred meters off the patrol vessel's port bow.

"Status report." Commander Maxim commanded.

A momentary shuffle and another junior officer piped up.

"The two vessels are docked, it looks like a standard freighter, though we've still got nil on comms. We've performed a loopback and our comms are good Sir."

*Interesting. If our comms are cleared, then why would they not respond?*

"Keep trying to get them on the horn." Turning to his security chief he sneered. "Get your men prepped. No telling what the situation is over there."

Curtly, the chief clicked his heels and proceeded to exit the bridge and locate the CO of their on board complement. Commander Maxim didn't feel the need to report anything yet, to be fair it wasn't even his assigned patrol route but after three days of nothing, he knew the crew was itching to do anything even if that meant a routine customs inspection. While comms may have still been down, there appeared nothing else unusual, likely the vessel was already under inspection. With a sigh, Commander Maxim once more broke the relative silence of the bridge.

"It looks like we'll have to do this the old fashioned way. See if you can get a visual response."

Much like the seafaring vessels, the FIV Arrogant and other vessels of the First Order naval forces were equipped with large strobes that could be used for communication. Certainly not the preferred method but a fallback nonetheless. The comm officer immediately began transmitting simple message via strobe towards the bridge of the patrol vessel.

- .... .. ... / .. ... / - .... . / ..-. .. ...- / .- .-. .-. --- --. .- -. - .-.-.- / -.-. --- -- -- / .- .--. .--. . .- .-. ... / --- ..-. ..-. .-.. .. -. . .-.-.- / .-. . .--. --- .-. - / -.-- --- ..- .-. / ... - .- - ..- ... .-.-.-​

​

Spoiler

This is the FIV Arrogant. Comm Appears Offline. Report your status.

​

As the ship moved slowly towards the paired vessels under impulse power, several scans of the ships were completed. Lifesigns were positive and it appeared all systems were online. At least at first. There was a slight disparity between the numbers as concurrent scans were completed. Confirming the numbers were in fact decreasing with each concurrent scan, the junior officer in charge of the ships scanners called out.

"Sir! We're getting strange readings, lifesigns seem to be decreasing aboard the vessel. Down almost twelve in the last thirty seconds."

Commander Maxim nodded silently. That was perplexing. He couldn't risk docking, in case there was a contagion on board, that would explain the lack of communication from the vessel though. Perhaps they'd get something back from the ship via light pulse. Only time would tell. In the meantime, he wanted to be sure his crew were prepared.

"Bring the ship to Orange Alert. Keep trying on the comms, also utilize short range. We need eyes on the inside, see if you can get any droids to respond."

Operating in the dark as he was, Commander Maxim was not about to put his own ship at risk if there was something afoot aboard the other patrol vessel. His complement of Stormtroopers had been alerted, all hands were at stations. There was nothing more they could do but wait for a response and keep watching. As the Commander peered through the transparisteel viewports he heard the familiar footsteps of his XO as he entered the bridge.

"Nice of you to join us Lieutenant Greve." Commander Maxim stated.

"Aye Sir. Reporting as ordered."

"Well, keep your eyes peeled. We've got something afoot."

What it was exactly he didn't know, but the Commander's sixth sense was tingling and he didn't like it one bit.

 

[TB-705]

The bodies of the fallen littered the ground. Streaks of human viscera and offal painted the walls, a scene of horror. Thengil stalked through the debris of battle, relishing the way their limp bodies gave before him. Too long since last he felt a corpse beneath paw.

"Fire, I will proceed to the bridge. Sabotaging their reactor falls to you. Leave none alive."

Thengil prowled swiftly forward, reaching the bridge in little time, for the craft was not large. The bridge crew managed to send off a distress call about the attack just before he silenced them. He granted no pleas for mercy, though many came. Just more carrion who'd soon drift beneath the gaze of pitiless stars.

[member="Vulkan"] | [member="Gerhard Maxim"]