Digging. Digging. And Digging Some More. (Ragnell Squadron)

[Darth Metus]

Cularin Asteroids, Cularin System

It had been several months since the original agreement had been signed by the first Grand Marshal of the Confederacy and the former Vice-Chancellor of the Galactic Republic: a document which permitted the CIS to mine the asteroids of the Cularin System for a rather elusive element known as Adegan. As demonstrated by the collaborative research undertaken by the Black Sun Syndicate and the Confederacy, the crystals could be cultivated into much more than simply the heart of a lightsaber. With the right techniques, they could be utilized to craft cloaking devices which rivaled those created through the usage of Stygium. As such, a small delegation from the southern nation ventured forth with Cularin as the destination; intent upon making good on the agreement that had been made so long ago. The hour was late afternoon planetside when the quiet of space was disrupted by the sudden appearance of a trio of corvettes, each surging forth from the depths of hyperspace. Confederate in origin, these vessels were filled to the brim with mining equipment and droids that would handle scouring the system's rocks for the precious resource.

At the helm of one of the lead vessel was the beskar-clad Mandalorian known as Isley Verd. He, an officer within the Confederate military, had organized the day's venture with a singular purpose in mind. With the grand restructure of the nation's military forces in the wake of recent events came the necessity for the creation of a dedicated starfighter squadron. Currently identified as the Ragnell Project, the idea revolved around a small unit of stealth-centric fighters that would engage the enemy as silent as the grave. Tactical supremacy and all that joy. As such, in order to make the idea a reality, the first step had to be taken: securing the ingredients to make the aforementioned cloaking devices. Leaning over the central console, the Mandalorian then issued an order that reverberated over the vessel's PA system. "All mining personnel, you are cleared to begin. All else, report to the bridge so that we might monitor the progress." he said, repeating himself once more as was the norm. With that said, Isley awaited as the synthetic personnel began to launch from the hangars of the vessels alongside their mining equipment and turned his attention to the azure hologram which hovered before his eyes.

It depicted the totality of the Cularin Asteroids, with green dots representing the Confederate personnel. Like a small swarm of gnats, the green dots descended from the three vessels and began to take up their starting positions on the asteroids. At once, there was hope that the operation would go smoothly...but then crimson blips began to appear on the projection. A small cadre of ships, each smaller than a corvette, rocketed out of Hyperspace and began to make their way towards the mining operation. Their IFFs were clearly not the Republic, nor any other major government; but they were also clearly armed. What's more, they did not acknowledge the transmissions which were sent by the accompanying corvettes, which inquired who they were and their intentions. There was only one logical conclusion.

"Pirates." breathed the Mandalorian before sounding the alarm. He began to issue orders over the PA system once more with a sense of urgency in his voice. "All pilots to the hangar at once. Move to intercept those pirates. Keep them far away from the mining operation!"

Spoiler

[member="Esther Griffon"]
[member="Sophia Walsh"]
[member="Cambria Zadira"]
[member="CC-192 Storm"]
[member="Anastasia Verd"]
[member="Scythe Zervos"]
[member="Gavin Ovmar"]
[member="Judah Lesan"]
[member="Riki Tor'lor"]
[member="Marek Starchaser"]
[member="Særa Ayña Savan"]

 

[Anastasia Verd]

Asteroids, crystals. It was one those useful missions. With a purpose but seemingly nothing too difficult. The miners would get mine, the rest, which included Anastasia, would wait. Not much of a mission for her, she had realized quickly. But since father had asked her to join him, the female did not refuse.

She hadn't given herself a purpose, merely familiarizing herself with the ship. The hilt of Ragnos, her father's lightsaber, was in her right hand, unactivated. It was a small little reminded to her mind why she dislike ordinary clothes like the black jeans and black tank top she wore. Comfortable sure but useful? Hardly? One of these days, Anastasia told herself, she would head over to the Techno Union and look into getting a new suit. Perhaps something like she remembered but more suitable for the body she was not in. Yes, that was the plan. For now, she had what she had. She could handle it.

Her thought pattern was then distracted as [member="Isley Verd"] spoke through the PA system, calling the miners to do their job and everyone else to the bridge. Anastasia knew which one of those she was already, and made her way through the ship, to her destination. She arrived as the alarm sounded off and from the small distance, she heard her father order pilots to the hanger. They would be dealing with pirates. Because of what she heard, Anastasia didn't speak, instead moving forward. She stopped a couple of feet from Isley, letting him handle the situation. She was neither a pilot nor a high ranking officer in the Confederacy. Unless ordered to do something, she didn't do anything. It was not her place.

 

[Cambria Zadira]

Cambria Zadria had been meditating in the pilot's lounge just off the main hangar bay when the klaxons went off and announcement made for all pilots to the hangars. Already dressed in her black flight suit, the Rutian Twi'lek grabbed her specially made helmet and slipped it on over her blue-hued lekku as she made for the exit. The Rogue Knight jogged to her Jackal Interceptor with her boot heels clicking on the hangar deck, then climbed the ladder with well-practiced ease and sunk down onto the pilot couch inside the spherical-shaped cockpit, quickly prepping her craft for an immediate launch as soon as Ragnell Squadron was ready.

"This is Ragnell Nine, all green and ready to dance," Bri keyed into the comm unit as the hatch of her fighter closed down and was secured.

[member="Isley Verd"]
@Ragnell Squadron members

 

[Malok]

Calm down Isaac. Breathe. Breathe!

Whilst slumped against the walls of his personal quarters, the young pilot struggled to regain his composure. Sweat beaded upon his brow as each second was punctuated by his ragged breaths. Over and over again he wheezed, trying in vain to calm the drumming of his heart to a moderate pace. Although he knew where he was, his eyes did not agree. He did not see the dull walls of gray, nor did he see the single bed and desk that adorned the space. No, he saw the same terrible vision that tore rest from his grasp overnight and reduced him to this panicked state whenever a dive into Hyperspace occurred. Flames were everywhere that Isaac looked as he crawled about the charred ground. Smoke filled his lungs, choking out his attempts to breathe. His body reverberated with pain, born of broken bones and fresh cuts. Desperately, the young pilot attempted to crawl away from his downed vessel, weakly crying out in vain. "Help.." he called between gasps. "...Help..."

It took the blaring announcement uttered by the Mandalorian to snap him out of the horrid memory and back to the present. One by one, Isaac Merrill managed to swallow calming breaths before he attempted to rise to his feet. It was...embarrassing...that a pilot would be reduced to such a state in response to Hyperspace of all things! However, the sad reality was that War left different scars on everyone...and this was his scar to bear. Taking a minute to mop the sweat from his face, the blonde pilot straightway jogged forth from his quarters and made his way through the corridors of the Corvette. With each step, he did his absolute best to pump himself up for the mission that laid ahead. 'Pirates.' he thought to himself upon entering the lift down to the Hangar. 'Those sods couldn't hit me even if I was flying an Ugly! Ha! This is going to be easy...Yeah, easy...' With this shaky confidence in hand, Isaac made his way across the hangar and into the Jackal Interceptor that awaited him. This was the first time that he would be flying an official mission alongside the Ragnell Squadron, and it honestly felt good to be apart of a team again. Sure, they were literal strangers at this point in time; but "Lucky" was sure they'd get along just fine.

Or they'd all die. Such is the way War worked.

"This is Ragnell 6, all systems are Green." he said over the comm. "Watch me earn my Ace wings today!" With a light smile, he brought the engines to life and wrapped his fingers about the flight stick. This was going to be fun...hopefully.

Spoiler

[member="Cambria Zadira"]
[member="Sophia Walsh"]
[member="Anastasia Verd"]
[member="CC-192 Storm"]
[member="Scythe Zervos"]
[member="Gavin Ovmar"]
[member="Judah Lesan"]
[member="Riki Tor'lor"]
[member="Esther Griffon"]
[member="Marek Starchaser"]

 

[Sophia Walsh]

It had been a very long time since she had flown in a squadron and she was more than thrilled to be apart of one again. The Navy held a special place in her heart and she was proud to be apart of it again. When she had told her father he was thrilled to hear that once again she would be holding a place in the Navy.

When the call was made Sophia had been finishing up waxing her new fighter so that it sparkled. There were people whom could do this for her however the woman didn't exactly like others touching her ships. She was possessive that way kind of like her father. Dropping the brush she hopped up into the cockpit. "Ragnell 5, locked and loaded. Let's get this show on the road." She said over the comm as she prepped her ship for takeoff. This ought to be easy, pirates were simple enough to deal with.


[member="Cambria Zadira"] [member="Isaac Merrill"]

 

[Ak'lya]

Strask swung in t the cockpit of his ship, the only X-57 in the hanger. This was turning sour, and he didn't like it. The pirates may have been gathering from the asteroids. Tapping his earpiece, he called to [member="Isley Verd"]. "Sir, they may have stealth ships of their own. Permission to scout?"the Bothan readied his ship, almost launching.

"Ar'krai One signing in." The call was over the ship's system, sent to the other pilots now in the hanger.

 

[Corey's OOC]

It was a nice thing to know that there were a lot of mining vessels being used. Maybe Haor Chall’s new business venture into the gathering and locating of resources was a smart bet. Marek nodded, it had to be. It was going to be nice to sit back and let the group see what his creations were able to do. And to watch them from the bridge. Y’know, if the galaxy was going to work that way.

But of course, it never would. The Sith-in-training sighed and rolled his eyes. Of course not, never make things easy. He had his personal ship, the Dark Tide, aboard this operation, having used it to arrive from where his last meeting was, but she wasn’t a combat vessel. And there wasn’t much he could do to help out. Making his way to one of the available Scout ships he signaled for his astromech and another tech to board. He was going to need the help to provide support out in the field. He knew he could probably get himself rated for a starfighter, but he was still not really in that mind set. He knew his cousins were the star pilots.

He’d fly something bigger and help out that way. A quick little bit of assistance from his R7, and the weapons were slaved to the pilot’s seat, and things were going to be good. “Starchaser’s ready in the Scout, I’ll call patterns and strays and see what I can do to knock them down a peg. Or two.” Right, hopefully. "Ar'kari, let me know what you find out there. I'm going to need to do some modifications to this design soon." He spoke this over a private channel.

 

[Darth Metus]

Prior to the symphony of confirmations which erupted through the secure channel, the Mandalorian felt the presence of one drawing nearer. Through the Force, she had the most distinct aura; one that was not nearly as cultivated as his own...but had the vast potential to dwarf him. Of course, this presence caused a light smile to form upon Isley's lips, despite the situation unfolding before his eyes. 'Twas his favored daughter, [member="Anastasia Verd"]. Originally, the plan was to utilize the time spent during the mining operation to impart to her new wisdom of the Force, but now that plan would have to be adjusted ever so slightly. "Anastasia," he began, not looking away from the hologram before his eyes, "I surmise now is the perfect opportunity for on the job training. Link your mind to my own and I will show you one of the many tricks your old man has up his sleeve. We are going to hinder our pirate opponents so that we might make the job easier for our pilots." The method by which the Mandalorian planned on hindering the oncoming enemy was the first ability that had been imparted to him by his mentor, Gregor Gideon, known as Sith Battle Coordination. As his eldest and successor, it was only right that she learned the best that he had to offer.

Then came the inquiry from the only Bothan aboard the ship, to which Isley gave a simply response. "Permission granted." he said, before addressing those handful of pilots that had completed their startup procedures at present. "Ragnell 5, Ragnell 6, Ragnell 9, and Starchaser, you are cleared for takeoff. The remainder of the squadron will join at stage two. I repeat, you are all cleared for take off." With that said, the Mandalorian leaned back from the console and inhaled a calming breath. Despite the steady approach of the pirates, the mining operation steadily continued. The droids and mining equipment made a successful landing upon the surface of the asteroids and began the operation without delay. At this stage, the focus was on burrowing deep enough into the rock to begin sifting through for the precious element.

Spoiler

[member="Esther Griffon"]
[member="Sophia Walsh"]
[member="Cambria Zadira"]
[member="CC-192 Storm"]
[member="Anastasia Verd"]
[member="Scythe Zervos"]
[member="Gavin Ovmar"]
[member="Judah Lesan"]
[member="Riki Tor'lor"]
[member="Marek Starchaser"]
[member="Særa Ayña Savan"]

 

[Ak'lya]

Flying out of the hanger and bringing the starfighter around to face the pirate fleet, Strask replied to [member="Marek Starchaser"]. "Got it." The Bothan weaved the over-responsive starfighter through the asteroid field. Ever closer to the fleet, the Bothan studied the oncoming fleet with a combination of interest and disdain. Setting the ship down on the largest of the rocks, he began to scan the area as best he could. The ship's system were not quite built to what he wanted, and he made a mental note to get them updated. There was something, but he wasn't sure. "This is Ar'krai One. I've got a pair of possible ion trails unlinked to any of their ships. Can anyone confirm?" And then, he took off. He needed to get to where they would be unable to shoot, and away from the asteroid before they got in range. Sighing, he came in behind one of the trails, and lined up a shot that, if there was nothing there, would hit another one of their ships. The ion cannons fired.
[member="Isley Verd"] [member="Sophia Walsh"] [member="Isaac Merrill"] [member="Cambria Zadira"]

 

[Not Ordo]

[member="Isley Verd"] [member="Anastasia Verd"] [member="Cambria Zadira"] [member="Isaac Merrill"] [member="Sophia Walsh"] [member="Marek Starchaser"]

Gavin strapped into the shinny new fighter and began trafficking to the hanger door. The old Iconic T of his helmet hid his grin as he got to fly against pirates "one more again".

In moments he was in the cold embrace of the infinite black and enroute to engage the enemy forces. He opened the comm channel and hit the thrusters.

"Ragnell 7 reporting all systems 5x5." He said into the comm, "coming in hot who needs a wingman?"

His laser cannons flaired to life and the blossoms of red plasma burst across the tail of a pirate fighter tailing one of the other sqaud mates.

"That's one." He said with a grin, "who's next come to papa."

 

[Cambria Zadira]

"Roger that. Nine launching now."

With that said, Cambria feathered the flight controls so her Jackal Interceptor. The fighter rose up off the hangar deck on it's repulserlifts, then the Twi'lek throttled up the engines to send the craft shooting out through the magcom field into the deadness of space.

Coming around to a heading that would take the Rogue Knight directly towards the pirate fighters, Cambria began to not only use the scanning information coming in, but also sensing things through the Force. She found her first target. Dropping down onto the tail of a pirate ship, the Twi'lek framed the the incoming fighter just perfectly, then hit the trigger sending a burst of laser fire reducing the target to fire and scrap metal. Breaking to port, Cambria brought the Interceptor around on a tight loop and came at another pirate fighter.

"Seven, this is Nine. You can watch my six."



[member="Sophia Walsh"] [member="Isaac Merrill"] [member="Gavin Ovmar"] [member="Strask Ak'lya"] [member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Isley Verd"] [member="Anastasia Verd"]

 

[Malok]

Once the green light was given by the Mandalorian, Isaac gunned the throttle and rocketed forth out of the hangar bay. His interceptor raced through the black of space and he rounded about the Corvette until his trajectory was headed straight for the incoming, pirate fleet. He was outpaced, at first, by his teammate Ragnell 7 who claimed an easy first kill. The explosion of lasers meeting durasteel caused the young pilot's heart to nearly skip a beat...not out of fear, but out of excitement. This was the sort of thing that Isaac lived for; the pulse-racing, heart-pounding thrill that came from waltzing a starfighter through space and cutting a swath through the enemy squadrons. Yes, despite the crash and despite the post-traumatic stress, Isaac never felt more alive than he did behind the controls of a starfighter. With his grin growing wider by the second, the blondie first gave credit where credit was due by hailing [member="Gavin Ovmar"] over the comm. "Nice kill!" he exclaimed, before hearkening to the words of the Bothan.

Now that was a strange possibility...ion trails...Could it be that the enemy were more than the average pirate? Could it be that they were utilizing stealth technology and were coming to the Cularin Asteroids for the same purpose as they? The thought was enough to cause him to reach out with the Force in the most simplistic manner, relying on the concept of Sense to make a veritable radar sweep telepathically. He felt the presence of his fellow Ragnell pilots, acknowledged the lack of life on the asteroids below, and then began to seek out the elusive ion trail. Sure enough, after a few seconds of diligent search by sensors and the Force, Isaac came upon the second trail. "This is Ragnell 6, I've got eyes on one of the trails. Moving to engage." he said, adjusting his heading once more. He guided his interceptor into position behind the ion trail and did a final sweep through the Force, nodding with confidence as he felt the life force brimming within the cloaked pilot before him.

"The enemy has stealth. I repeat, the enemy has stealth. Be on your guard team." he advised over the squadron channel whilst firing his ions. The cannons erupted to life and peppered the masked vessel relentlessly, hammering away until the shields ultimately dropped. Then, he switched to his laser cannons and took aim. With deadly precision, he unleashed hell upon the engine units of the starfighter, causing an eruption of the fuel cell. In a blaze, the ship was decimated and Isaac quickly maneuvered out of the resulting shrapnel's way. "One down, but I bet there's a swarm to go." he said...with a smile.

Spoiler

[member="Gavin Ovmar"]
[member="Strask Ak'lya"]
[member="Sophia Walsh"]
[member="Marek Starchaser"]
[member="Cambria Zadira"]
[member="Anastasia Verd"]

 

[Judah Lesan]

Of course Sparky had to make sure everything was fine. Despite the fact Judah had been one of the first in his fighter when the call came out, his "trusty" R9 wouldn't let him off til the preflight checklist was triple checked. That made Lesan one of the last out and made him a bit late to cover [member="Cambria Zadira"], his flight groups flight lead.

"Sorry guys, R9's not used to this," he said over the comm as he approached near one of the last out.

Judah just had to make up for it. Good thing his father taught him a lot about using the force in space combat. Reaching out with force, JJ accelerated full speed toward two incoming enemy craft. It was now or never. Laser cannons were let loose and JJ went careening toward them. Busting out through a fiery explosion, Judah caught up to the group.

"This is 10, all systems go and laser cannons work just fine."

Calling out through the force, JJ touched Bri's mind.

"Sorry I'm late. Won't happen again."

[member="Isaac Merrill"][member="Gavin Ovmar"][member="Strask Ak'lya"][member="Isley Verd"][member="Marek Starchaser"][member="Sophia Walsh"][member="Anastasia Verd"]

 

[Anastasia Verd]

The voices came through the communications system, mostly not directed to the bridge itself. While Anastasia kept watching Isley and it appeared as if she didn't care much for what they were saying, she still kept an ear out for what was said. Stealth ships had suddenly become the reoccupation of the team.

Her father spoke, her dark brown eyes still on him. He didn't turn his head to her but he still talked to her, ordering her to link her mind to his and he would show her one his the tricks. Trick was such a bad name for a Force Power. To her mind, it undermined what a Force Power could do, what one could do with it once they had achieved full potential of it. But she didn't share that with him. Instead, she cleared her mind from all and any thoughts that were potentially a threat to her. When she had first come about, she couldn't do that, the thoughts would just through her mind. Her first instinct was developing fear of being discovered. But after three years, she had overcome said fear and learned to just push those thoughts far away. And with the help of her Telepathy which was not just a Force Power but also a trait of this body, she had succeeded. She still wasn't completely safe from any possible mind invasion but Isley never done such things.

Then she reached further to the Force. Her head lowered as her eyes closed, summoning it to her. First, she felt father's entire presence through it before she concentrated more specifically, searching for his mind. When she had felt it, she reached out. Dad. It was a somewhat childish word but one Anastasia used on both of her parents. Slowly, her head rose back up while her eyelids remained shut, just as her connection to his remained open, her mind completely focused on the task she had and not letting anything else slip in, distract her in any way. Anastasia could hear him talking to the pilots but it seemed more distant now as she concentrated.

Spoiler

[member="Isley Verd"] [member="Cambria Zadira"] [member="Isaac Merrill"] [member="Sophia Walsh"] [member="Strask Ak'lya"] [member="Gavin Ovmar"] [member="Judah Lesan"]

 

[Not Ordo]

[member="Sophia Denko"] [member="Isaac Merrill"] [member="Strask Ak'lya"] [member="Marek Starchaser"] [member="Cambria Zadira"] [member="Judah Lesan"] [member="Anastasia Verd"]

"Copy 9." He said as he dropped in formation with the rouge knight.

His hands were light on the yoke as he followed the other fighter. Their turns and movments tighter than the clothes of a Zeltron hooker. He stretched out in the force and felt numerous life forces.

"They have stealth for sensors but I feel them." He said to his other force sensitive squad mates, "9 fly fast shoot straight, I've got your six."

 

[Esther Griffon]

Esther had been caught in the middle of a sanisteam when the first order for all pilots to head to the hangar came. Even rushing to dry off and pull her pilot suit on, she was still late to the hangar. By the time she arrived, seven of the other fighters had already launched, though it didn't seem like anyone else had made it to the hangar yet. It actually made Esther wonder where the rest of the squadron was...?

Whatever was going on with whoever hadn't arrived yet, Esther still needed to prepare for launch, herself. Pulling her helmet on, Esther made her way over to her CSX-001 Jackal and climbed in, starting the Interceptor up and running the system checks. Once they all came in green, Esther flipped her comm on.

"This is Ragnell Leader, all systems green!" Esther announced over the comm. [member="Isley Verd"] hadn't given the clear for Stage Two to launch yet, so Esther thought it would be best to wait for his order to launch. Besides, her wingmen weren't in the hangar yet, nor was there evidence that they had launched already; She couldn't leave her wingmen behind.

[member="CC-192 Storm"] [member="Scythe Zervos"]

 

[Ak'lya]

So they did have cloaks. Just when this couldn't get better. The ion cannons struck the ship, dropping the fighter's cloak for long enough for Strask to pound it. The ion cannons were enough to lay the ship's shields to rest, and the laser fire from one of their ships finished it off. Rolling to avoid more fire, Strask turned to the wreckage of the other stealth ship. "Sir, do we have a better way to spot these things? If so, I'd like to know soon." Hopefully [member="Isley Verd"] had something. Back on full scanners, he set it to find just ion trails. It found none in range. Sighing, the Bothan called to the other pilots. "This is Ar'krai One. Let's pull them out." And then he did probably the most foolish thing he could: he dove for the bridge of the enemy, all guns blazing. Pulling up at the last second, he soared away, barely undamaged. The shields on this ship were strong, but anything more like that, and he was done for. But the shields were severely weakened. They could break it.

 

[Sophia Walsh]

It had been eons since she had been apart of a squadron. She spent most of her days behind a desk now surrounded my mountains of paperwork. The moment she took off everything came back to her and it was just like the good old days when she flew with a squad of her own. She missed those guys back at the Republic and still kept in touch with them after all these years. They had been through a lot together and were like family. She was sure that with time that this new squad would be like that or at least she hoped so.

The ships may have stealth but she had the Force which meant she could sense the people inside and have a general idea of where the ship was and the size as she saw one get shot out from the sky. This it turn triggered more aggressive action from the remaining ships. Making a sharp right she avoided a shot fired by one of the remaining ships. Turning her guns at the cloaked ship she fired away.

 

[Zahuro Ikane]

Zahuro stood in bored silence at the sight of the asteroids that were to be mined. He was under the impression that when Isley hired him to be part of this little Ragnell Project that he would have to use the piloting skills he gained from the Academy and active duty in the Republic Navy. Yet here he was, watching a hologram projection of Corvettes and miners swarming out of them to mine Adegan ore lurking in the asteroid. The monotony of it made him puff at his cigarra in agitation. But when red dots appeared onscreen he took interest, and one glance at Isley gave him all the confirmation he needed about what was going on: The Corvettes were being attacked.

Smirking with new excitement as the alarm blared in his ears Zahuro tossed his spent cigarra butt aside before turning and sprinting toward the hangar bay. Just before fully entering the bay he paused to take a quick sip from a flask in his vest. Better that he have a quick drink now and not worry than go without and start feeling the shakes as he was flying. Sighing as the liquor burned down his throat he replaced the flask in his vest and resumed running dead on to his ship.

Sinking into the cockpit and pulling on his helmet Zahuro tapped the microphone of his radio to turn it on.

"Ragnell 4 now ready to launch," he announced as he fired up the Interceptor's engines and with a hushed whisper added, "This is gonna be fun."

[member="Isley Verd"]

 

[Corey's OOC]

Looking back to his astromech, Marek was muttering something to have SeaDee do something about the systems here. He knew his little astromech was really good with systems and circuitry, and was learning even more from being plugged into the fething Techno Union mainframe all day. He wasn’t expecting miracles, but anything to mess with the enemy sensors would do fine for now. This was definitely going to provide him with some ideas for the next ship Haor Chall was going to build.

Maybe something focused in electronic warfare.

Reaching out to the Force, he was looking to grab anyone that would reach a back. Marek wasn’t that strong of an empath, but he could reach if someone would grab. Hearing the Bothan, he checked the sensors and zoomed in on the are. Frakking ship.

Stealth ships? Son of a biscuit!

Looking over his shoulder, he called out to SeaDee to use heat sensors to find the ships. “Ar’krai, move your sensors to look for heat signatures. We’ll have to pick up visual scanning so we don’t vape our own.”

Closing his eyes, he could feel where his pilots were. What did this scout ship have in it? Nothing, huh? Not any form of resource hunting? That would be useful, after all. “Can anyone get their attention? I’ll see what I can do with tagging the signatures and retransmitting.” Techno Union Foreman trick, maybe. He was learning a little of the ‘how to’ if not the ‘how its made’.