Public Eviction Day - Wayland

[Stone Gra'tua]

Wayland, Wayland System
​

Objective I : Deal with the hostile criminal presence
Objective II : Scout the system for suitable locations for bases and defenses
Objective III : BYOO, help the cause of securing the system any way you see fit

Location : Smuggler's HQ, Wayland
Objective : 1 and 2

The planet Wayland, close to the border between the SJC and the NIO had been a Mandalorian world in times past. In more recent history, it had been a haven for criminals and smugglers, though the Jedi presence had mitigated this somewhat. Today, new landlords were taking over the system, and were moving in to evict and remove any hostile presence from the system entirely. The natives of Wayland, many of them primitives, would be allowed to stay and live as they had done previously, under the protection of the new occupation force. The governorship of Wayland under Silver Jedi oversight had been assigned to Stone, and now the task of transforming Wayland from a backwater into a covert military base could begin. Contacting SJC command, the Mandalorian informed them he was taking measures to secure the system from any raiders or other pirate presence.

Upon entering the system aboard his vessel, Chronos One, the scanners picked up a single ship, running no registry or IFF. A quick intercept via ion cannon secured a set of coordinates on planet, and landing codes to avoid the smuggler den's defence turrets. Soon enough the ship brought Stone and his companions in for a landing in the heart of the enemy's complex, with the enemy none the wiser as to what had just arrived in their midst. After seizing a huge sum of money on an operation, Stone had come clean to his three most trusted vode about his true nature, and together the four of them had sworn a new oath to one another, to use what they had, to build on it, and create a future for all Mandalorians in the much ravaged Mandalore Sector. Wayland was the beginning of their story.

Clad only in a black jumpsuit, despite the protestations of his vode, who all wore their beskar'gam, Stone led the procession down the boarding ramp of his hissing and cooling vessel and into the Wayland night air on the landing field of the Smuggler's HQ. He walked, businesslike, toward the main entrance, his squad in step behind him, three vari-sized Mando'ade, a human, a Wookiee and a Houk, his chosen family, a new aliit so new it didn't yet have a name. Some ties were more than blood, and that was shared among them, as was their purpose. Four of them, a team, stood against whatever threat the local raider chieftains had, and they would not take a step back. They trusted in Stone, and he had sworn to them he would not let them down. He hoped the Jedi would stand with them, but he couldn't promise what the Jedi would do, only his own actions.

 

[Gir Quee]

Tantara-class Corvette Thunderblight, orbiting Wayland

"Their approach to the smuggler base so far appears to be going on without a hitch..."

The admiral nodded as he peered over the sensor operator's screen. In truth, his presence here was probably superfluous - any number of officers could have easily overseen the task of ensuring that the smugglers or their allies didn't interfere with Stone Gra'tua 's operation. Yet the man had taken a personal interest in the world, especially after working in the initial clean-up after remnants of the Sith Empire attempted to evacuate their treasure vaults on the world. There seemed to be a never-ending supply of criminals and miscreants who had become drawn to the world like moths to a flame. He only hoped that the deployment of this black flag squadron would draw in some more unwary types to be more easily disposed of.

"I'm going to guess that we haven't seen any good prey either?" said the blonde man.

"Nothing really of note," agreed the sensor operator, "a handful of light freighters and shuttles, most of whom look legitimate, bringing in either disaster relief supplies or legitimate trading goods. There's only the one shuttle that wasn't running a transponder."

"Not worth our time," said the ship's captain.

Gir frowned, "Maybe not from a military perspective, but whatever they're doing is effecting someone, somewhere. Could be a slaver ship. Could be a drug smuggler. We ought to snatch it when it tries to lift off again. Does Flurry Squadron know about it?"

Captain Vril shook his head, "No, but I'll brief them about it and make sure they're ready to launch for when the opportunity arises."

"Excellent..."

 

[Travot Ravenna]

Outskirts of the Smuggler Camp...

A gust of wind rippled across the long grasses before bringing in the fragrant scents of Wayland's mountain flora as the sun began to set, casting golden rays on emerald hillsides and snow-glistening peaks. It was hard not to take a little respite in a galaxy filled with chaos and war to simply enjoy the beauty of the place, but the jedi knew that despite his idillyic surroundings danger wasn't far away. He heard the characteristic whine of engines and looked upward, catching sight of speck that resolved itself into Stone Gra'tua 's ship as it descended.

"You think we can trust him?" asked one of the commandoes crouched next to him.

Travot nodded, "The mandalorians of the Covenant so far have been reliable and competent. No reason to think that they'd be anything else right now, especially given that most of them want to restore Mandalore itself."

"This is a stepping stone for them," agreed another commando, "but my concern is that when the time comes, they'll leave us."

"That's fine," said the jedi, "as long as they don't cause any trouble for us in the process."

"So what's the plan?"

"This is their op," said the jedi, "so we'll back them up. Keep the snipers in position to take down any threats to their landing and keep an eye out for any enemy reinforcements. The rest of us are going to approach the camp. Questions? No? Let's go..."

 

[Mig Gred]

Objective: 1

Mig took a breath as he stalked through the territory of Wayland. It had been... it had been a long time. He looked around, followed by a trandoshan in Mandalorian armor, minus some loose sleeves hiding his arms. Mig looked around, hearing his vod behind him.

"You sssure have a way of picking a path, ad." Mig chuckled a little, clearing some brush before walking further.

"Come on Garil, it's not that tough." The trandoshan hissed a little, pulling up a sleeve a little to reveal a twig of an arm.

"Easy for you to say, Alor." He chuckled a little as he continued to follow, not paying much mind. There goal was reach the base around the same time as the landing team, but Mig was pretty sure they were running late. He would quickly tap his comms, getting in touch with the Jedi's team nearby.

"Hey jetii, has the new guy made it yet? Me and Garil may be a little late. Forgot he doesn't do great with rough terrain."

Stone Gra'tua Travot Ravenna

 

[Vaux Gred]

Objective: 2
Ships: Neebray-class Cargo Frigate (Carrier conversion), 1x Directorate "Ghost" Viper Interceptor squadron, Talyc Squadron

Vaux sat in the Tal'galaar as she looked down at the scanners. Nothing to report for the time being. Her squadrons were sneaking through some of the outer parts of the system, hoping to spy a few sneaky shadow ports that criminals might be using along with Wayland to hide any more illegal trades than what they'd be willing to do on a more public planet. She sighed a little, looking around.

"Surprised these karkers haven't put up anymore operations. Usually they have one or two ports." Vaux then flicked the controls to weave around a piece a debris.

Gir Quee

 

[Stone Gra'tua]

Wayland, Wayland System
​

Objective I : Deal with the hostile criminal presence
Objective II : Scout the system for suitable locations for bases and defenses
Objective III : BYOO, help the cause of securing the system any way you see fit

Location : Smuggler's HQ, Wayland
Objective : 1 and 2
Tags : Gir Quee Travot Ravenna Mig Gred Vaux Gred

The walk from the ship to the cavernous interior of the Smugglers' HQ on Wayland felt like one of the longest walks of Stone's long life. Eyes were upon his group of four now, and no doubt, weapons were being trained in their direction. And yet, they were uninterrupted by guards or other security as they made their unannounced entrance. Soon enough, though not soon enough for Stone's nerves, the four of them came into a wide open chamber overlooked by several tiers of galleries.

"Welcome to our home, uninvited though you are." Said a loud voice, clearly the leader of this group. Stone tried not to look around, keeping his attention on the speaker, but he counted at least fifty goons, and more than a few harried looking civilian types, including some that appeared to be of the primitives native to Wayland.

Stone halted, leaving his three companions to fan out behind him, speaking quietly, just loud enough for the other Mando'ade to hear. "Wait here, and don't be shocked when shit happens. Keep our friends outside in the loop." They shared a look among themselves, but said nothing as their leader moved alone into the open to stand before the enemy leader and his captains. Vansen broadcast her helmet feed on an allied comm channel so that their friends could follow along as Stone tried to talk the criminals down peacefully. The Human, Houk and the Wookiee were spoilt for targets as they tried in vain to cover their vod.

"I thank you for all your work here. Wayland is now under my control. You'll all have the chance to leave peacefully."

The leader laughed, and that cued the room to erupt into gales of laughter. The leader quickly regained composure, and waved to one of his grizzled looking thugs, who went to a control board. Spotlights lit up a section of the large room, highlighting cages containing what looked to be local women and children. The leader turned to two elderly males, who Stone presumed to be tribal elders. "I'm the duly elected leader here." Said the scumbag. Stone shook his head, ensuring his voice projected out to the entire gathering.

"Not for long. Time for a snap election. I think the locals deserve a choice." Stone said. The smuggler leader frowned. "Snap execution sounds better to me." Stone kept his eyes on the criminal scumbag, though he saw the elders in his peripheral vision glancing at the caged prisoners, clearly the primitives had been brought into this arrangement under duress. They needed to see a show of strength, and the Shi'ido Mandalorian's rising anger was going to provide a show for them. Dozens of blasters and other nastier weapons trained in on the lone Mandalorian standing unarmoured and unprotected in the center of the room. He spoke, undaunted.

"Your funeral."

 

[Travot Ravenna]

"New guy made it," answered Travot to Mig Gred over his comlink, "they're moving into the base now. We're following behind them..."

"Ballsy," noted one of the commandoes as Stone's quartet moved into the smuggler's base.

Travot nodded in agreement as the group continued forward to the perimeter. Penetrating deep into an enemy base in small numbers would likely always be a difficult mission - the enemy frequently had advantages in number, knowledge of the facility, and often forewarning or alerts of an enemy penetration. The odds were stacked against them, but even then, most infiltrators who attempted such a foolhardy act in this age had been force users or those with special powers or technology. Stone Gra'tua and his compatriots didn't seem to have any of those, which led to the susevfian to believe that they hadn't shown their full hand yet, or that they were stupid.

he glanced upwards as they reached an energy fence. With an outstretched hand, he focused on one of its emitters and through the Force, crushed it. Minute sparks jetted out of the side as the fence faded into oblivion, allowing them further passage inward. One of the commandoes raised a silenced rifle and fired. Before the jedi could fully register what had transpired, he saw a humanoid across the yard stumble and topple forwards the mandalorian's ship. They must know that the mandoes are here if they're going for the ship. He turned to face on one of the commando sergeants.

"Take your squad and secure the area around the mandalorian ship. If we have to get out of here fast, I don't want us to be fighting for our ride out of here..."

"Yes sir."

 

[Stone Gra'tua]

Location : Smuggler's HQ, Wayland
Objective : 1 and 2

Several things happened at once as Stone gave his final warning to the smugglers, all criminals and thugs, heavily armed, standing around him, weapons levelled. The smuggler leader scoffed as he waved for his goons to open fire. Up in space above Wayland, a piece of space junk shed its disguise, went active, and trained its sensors on the Tantara-class corvette. As soon as the sensors came active, the satellite launched a spread of proton torpedoes at the vessel. Down on the surface, outside the Smuggler HQ, a series of concealed bunkers opened, and B2 Battle Droids began to emerge in step, moving out to engage targets that had been illuminated by the base's sensor network that extended into the forest.

"There's gonna be a lot of funerals, a lot of Jedi and Mando kids crying their eyes out." The head scumbag said dryly. "We've had our eyes on all of you since you dropped out of hyperspace." The criminals had been watching the SJC and the Mandalorians approaching what they saw as their space and their world, and they believed they were more than ready for a fight. Up in space, there were several more small satellites concealed as debris, and down on Wayland, the criminals had a hundred goons and a few hundred droids, all packing firepower. "You'll rule Wayland over our dead bodies."

Hearing this, Vansen commed to their allies. "Alert, we've walked into a trap, all friendly forces be advised, these chakaare were waiting for us!" She didn't know if her warning would do any good, but it was the decent thing to do.

The first blasterbolts fired at Stone hit home, causing his fellow Mandalorians to swear, open fire, and roar angrily, various combinations of those three things, engaging the criminals, though far outnumbered and outgunned. To their shock as much as the criminals firing on him, Stone didn't react to the hits. His form had become thick and gnarled, absorbing the energy of the blaster and kinetic weapons hitting him. The Shi'ido continued to change form, expanding quickly and exponentially, still taking fire as his body formed into a large mass a hundred feet long with a tail at one end and a huge set of jaws at the other, A shape well known among the natives of the planet Tatooine; to the astonishment of everyone, Stone had taken the formidable form of a Krayt Dragon.

A deafening rising high-pitched whine, the roar of a large and angry Krayt boomed out of the HQ, drowning out the sound of heavy exchanges of blaster and gunfire coming from inside. None of the B2 droids were distracted, but the criminals located outside certainly were, exchanging looks of alarm. The smugglers might have been ready for the Jedi and the Mandalorians, but they could not have anticipated this. Stone's squad had recovered far more quickly than the enemy, the three of them racing under Vansen's direction to take advantage of the confusion and lack of fire coming their way to move towards the caged section, aiming to free the prisoners.

Inside the HQ, the alarm was far more acute. As the Krayt Dragon that was a Mandalorian roared at them, many of the criminals froze and forgot to keep firing. Some that kept blasting away at the monster were blown down and melted away by a belch of digestive acids from the gaping maw of the huge beast. Stone then turned upon another group, and was on them in an instant, darting forward with booming steps, snapping and crunching these violent criminals. The local primitives were watching on in a mix of awe and excitement as their oppressors were mauled by the Krayt, with the elders of the tribes taking looks at one another as Stone very visibly took down the scumbags that had been holding their families hostage, while his people moved to help them.

Smuggler HQ : 100 goons, 500 B2 Battle Droids Travot Ravenna Mig Gred
Wayland Space : Concealed Torpedo Satellites Vaux Gred Gir Quee

 

[Gir Quee]

Tantara-series Corvette Thunderblight

The sensor operator began to rapidly chatter, "I've got dozens of new missile locks on us. Proton torps headed our way!"

The admiral frowned as he toggled through his command chair's display readouts even as the bridge crew began to shoot forth quick and hurried exchanges. Thunderblight's engines flared to life, propelling her to the side of the incoming torpedoes while the ship's dozens of weapon's emplacements began to spit out fire. Blaster cannons and defensive turbolasers quickly began to chip away at the enemy torpedo salvo, causing brief conflagrations which faded away as quickly as they had formed, while the twin long-range turbolasers began to pump out concentrated energy bolts to destroy the previously concealed weapons satellites. The ship's flight controller swiveled in her chair to face the man from Hast.

"What do you think, launch the fighters?"

Quee considered the question if but for a moment, "Not yet. We don't know all of the cards that they have on the table..."

 

[Travot Ravenna]

The knight felt a certain sense of anxiety filter through the Force around him. It wasn't entirely unexpected, especially when one knowingly walked into conflict - the people around him were understandably anxious with their lives on the line and so many unknowns. Danger could be all around them in so many different forms or possibilities. Yet this forbidding feeling rapidly crested as the smuggler's mechanical minions began to emerge from the ground.

He spied their overbuilt torsos and almost immediately identified the battle droid's type. At least it's nothing too crazy or exotic - they're tough but relatively stupid...The knight turned to the commando sergeant next to him and simply nodded - a brief and tacit acknowledgement of the most sensible thing to do - disperse and ambush. The soldier said as much into his comlink, causing the other commandoes to fall into their training and routine. Neti Field Cloaks hid the soldiers while stationary, allowing them to use their silenced pick off unwary or isolated battle droids easily with little chance of immediate detection. The snipers in overwatch positions could easily pick off an visible enemy leaders or provide covering fire if another one of their kind was too close to being foudn out. Travot had little doubt that given enough time, the commandoes would overcome the enemy by persistent guerilla warfare with enough time, though that wasn't his preferred option. He brought his wrist comlink up to his mouth.

"This is Knight Ravenna, we have apparently walked into an ambush. The criminals were expecting us. Several hundred B2 battle droids are present, along with dozens of low level criminal suspects. Stormriders are engaging enemy in their usual way, I am moving forward to check on Stone Gra'tua and his men...requesting immediate reinforcements now."

The jedi darted forward at that very moment, taking advantage of one of the commandoes having tossed a grenade several dozen meters away that produced a bright, eye-catching and loud explosion to sneak into an open door that led deeper into the facility. Not an infiltrator by nature or training, the large man preferred straight up fights, but he knew that they simply weren't always practical. He rounded a corner and nearly ran into one of the smuggler's goons. The Jedi reflexively punched the smuggler in the face - a relatively fast but weak blow that mostly stunned the other man rather than dealt any severe damage, but it was enough of an opening. A follow-up front kick knocked the smuggler backwards with Travot followed up with a Force push that sent the other man flying into the wall behind him. The other man groaned before sliding down onto the floor unconscious, allowing the jedi further momentum to check up on the mandalorian.

 

[Alistair Abbott]

Location: Wayland System | Wayland | Smuggler HQ
Objective: Objective III – Survive & Escape
Status: Confused & Afraid
Equipment: Obvious Criminal Clothing | Hydrospanner | DH-17 Blaster Pistol
Nearby: Stone Gra'tua | Travot Ravenna | Mig Gred

- - - - -
​

Alistair winced and swore loudly as the welder slipped and the plasma beam passed over his gloved hand. There was a loud 'clank' as the tool hit the metal floor, flame still alight. Alistair stumbled back from the speeder he was working on, fumbling at the straps on his left hand. He ripped off the protective gauntlet and breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the cool air on his bare skin.

He looked down at his hand, scowling at the new damage. Another blister to accompany a myriad of cuts, bruises, and burns – courtesy of the smuggler's dodgy PPE. He'd long since given up on dressing and treating each wound, instead praying that nothing would get infected. The pain was bearable, save for when he washed his hands.

Alistair bends over to turn off the welder, letting out a sigh as he observes the cramped workshop he'd been stuck in for the past few hours. He'd been hoping for a more exciting way of earning money but apparently, he was the resident engineer for the smugglers. If he wanted to work in a humid metal box fixing speeders every day, then he would've have stayed on Corellia.

He grabs a mostly clean cloth and wipes the sweat from his brow. After a quick inspection to ensure nothing was about to explode, he opens the door and steps out into the hallway.

Today was the day. He'd hit his tolerance limit for workshop burns and was going to ask the boss to take him on a smuggling run. He missed the thrill of a job: the rush of adrenaline, the excitement and the terror, the money…

He snapped out of his reverie at the sound of raised voices. He followed the source of the sound, breaking out into a jog, until he reached a large room within the compound. Stepping out onto the gallery he looked down onto some sort of confrontation. The boss and good deal of smugglers were gathered, weapons drawn. He was speaking loudly to a group of newcomers – Mandalorians, or something of the like, who were staring them down from the other end of the room.

'This doesn't look good' Alistair thought dryly. The visitors were outnumbered and outgunned, but Alistair's survival instinct was telling him to run and hide. He was unconsciously backing up when the shooting started. Panicked, he fumbled for his holster – taking cover as he drew his pistol.

He pressed his back to the flimsy cover that was the gallery barrier. His breathing quickened and became shallow. He took a moment to focus on filling his lungs, only to gasp at a series of massive booms that shook the room. He peered over the barrier and felt his stomach drop. Somehow, a massive Krayt Dragon had entered the building and was massacring the smugglers.

"Kark" Alistair swore. "I'm so dead".

 

[Vaux Gred]

Gir Quee Stone Gra'tua

Vaux gripped the controls as she saw the satellite reveal itself. Osik.... Then there was the swarm of torpedoes that launched from it. Crap crap crap! She quickly closed the Tal'galaar's s-foils and shunted every bit of energy she could to the engines. The two fighter squadrons would quickly follow her at their top speeds before she began to close in.

"Hey, Admiral. Need a cannon or four?" Vaux would quickly open her s-foils again, and the particle cannons began to deliver deep thuds as their pale bolts flew into the hail of torpedoes. She spun away from one of the torpedoes explosions. The fighter rattled, as she pulled around and looked back. "Ok. Too close."

 

[Stone Gra'tua]

Location : Smuggler's HQ, Wayland
Objective : 1 and 2
Space : Gir Quee Vaux Gred
Wayland Space : Concealed Torpedo Satellites, Victory Star Destroyer + Mando reinforcements

Up in space above Wayland, the turbolaser and blaster cannon fire from Thunderblight combined with the quick actions of the Tal'galaar fightercraft dealt with the incoming torpedo salvoes effectively and efficiently, removing the initial threat. The smugglers did not have endless resources, and as each satellite came online, it was quickly blasted to space dust by the Corvette's long range turbolasers. From around the planet, another threat emerged, an ageing Victory-class Star Destroyer, hardly at full capacity or prime condition, but a large threat nontheless, courtesy of the smugglers' pirate allies.

Coming around from the far side of Wayland, the ship began to launch Uglies. At the same time, approaching the system on an acute vector, exiting hyperspace, a half dozen mixed Starviper and Bes'uliik fighters appeared, escorting a medium transport. The transport broadcast communications to the SJC Corvette "We heard there was going to be some fighting on Wayland." Said a deep male voice over the comm. "We're Mandos. We're here to fight." To give action to the speaker's words, the transport moved toward the planet while the Mando fighters vectored off to intercept the Uglies coming from the Destroyer. "Kalik Squadron here." Said a different female voice from the lead Bes'uliik fighter. "We'll engage those Uglies."

These mandalorians were from a dozen different worlds in the sector, made up from various clan and family groups, united in the purpose to keep the Sector mandalorian. They had come at Stone's request, to fight alongside their fellow vode, and the SJC to reestablish a presence in the Wayland system.

Ground : Travot Ravenna Mig Gred Alistair Abbott

Outside the Smuggler HQ, the B2 battle droids, fearless, unyielding, came on in their waves, ignoring their losses as only droids could. They were not the most advanced or deadly automata in the galaxy, and though they had begun the combat with a large numerical advantage, that was fast slipping away as the Jedi strike teams made inroads into their numbers. The organic defenders of the smugglers' HQ that remained alive were all fleeing west.

At the western end of the Smuggler HQ was the concealed hangar complex wherein their transports and starfighters were located. This was where both the survivors of the battle inside, and those outside, were both fleeing towards. They had lost this battle, and now thought only of escape, and survival, leaving the droids and anyone else to fend for themselves.

Within the cavernous main room of the Smugglers' HQ, to say the battle had not gone well for the Smugglers would be an understatement. The appearance, completely uncalled for, unannounced, of a kriffing Krayt Dragon in their midst, had tipped the balance in the Mandalorians' and Jedi favour. The fight had been short, and after the blasterfire coming his way finally stopped, and the remaining survivors ran off for their lives deeper into the comples, the Shi'ido allowed his form to return to the human form he had held before going ham. He came down, clad now in what appeared to be his beskar'gam from the neck down, but was a facsimile provided by his shapechanging abilities, a handful of meters away from a young man peering over a barrier.

"Kark" Alistair Abbott swore. "I'm so dead".

"Not if you drop the blaster." Said Stone, easily. He was unarmed, but he'd just been a Krayt Dragon a moment before, and figured that would work as well as a blaster for the purposes of getting answers out of this fellow about anything else that might be waiting for the Mando'ade.

Between Stone as a Krayt, and the violent attentions of Vansen, Tank and Angry, about half the smuggler goons in the room had been killed or wounded, and the rest had fled to whatever escape they could find. The locals, two distinct species, Psadans and Myneyrshi, the former a thickly built squat species, the latter tall, thin and four armed, were conferring. They had, it seemed, quickly agreed to side with the Mandalorians, and runners were sent to alert the tribes. Vansen commed a reply to the Jedi. "It's over inside here, they're routed and fleeing west. Pursue and terminate."

Smuggler HQ : 50 goons (fleeing) 400 B2 Battle Droids (still fighting)

 

[Travot Ravenna]

The ground rumbled beneath him. Something big must be moving around. He rounded another corner and jumped up a set of stairs, skipping past several in the process. As he reached the top, he found himself face to face with a panicked smuggler. Travot blinked. He doesn't seem to be much of a threat. The jedi abruptly and simply shoved the other man aside, letting the smuggler run down the stairs unhindered. Instead, he found himself staring at what appeared to be a massive Krayt Dragon viciously engaged in fighting the criminals. Where did he come from? Doesn't look like he's interested in the Mandos at least...where did Stone Gra'tua go? He could sense the other's presence, yet he could not physically see him - wherever he was, judging by the other's feelings he was engaged in some combat.

A blaster bolt from one of the fleeing smuggler's whizzed past his head. Travot instinctively stretched out a hand to telekinetically rip the weapon out of the other man's hand. The blaster flew through the air until Travot casually flicked his hand to the side, which caused the weapon to clatter into some recess in the rapidly decaying building. He briefly closed his eyes for a second to wade into the currents of the Force.

Fear. Anger. Pain. All of those emotions naturally emanated out from the building's inhabitants as they engaged in combat. All these emotions were potential paths to the Dark Side. There was a reason why the Order tried to prevent younger and less mature jedi from entering combat...yet he sensed the presence of another Force user nearby. One perhaps not as skilled or yet trained as many that the Silver Jedi Order that engaged in combat. An unfamiliar presence...but one not inherently turned to the Dark Side yet... The large man ran towards the presence, eventually finding himself face to face with Alistair Abbott who was facing Stone. While glade that the mandalorian was not hurt, he was more curious about this new guy. He's not one of our padawans...

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

 

[Gir Quee]

Tantara-series Corvette Thunderblight, near Wayland

"We can always use an assist," replied Gir to Vaux Gred , "thank you!"

"Satellites destroyed..." reported an officer

"New contact coming around orbit...Victory Star Destroyer class..."

The man grimaced. Battles tended to unfold rapidly. Even as one threat receded, another appeared. He briefly pulled up a sensor reading of the enemy warship. Such a warship, if in pristine condition, was far too dangerous for his one corvette to take on. But many of the older warships were not in great condition with missing weapons, weak shields, or malfunctioning engines - pirates and criminals often had trouble with finances to keep up the old ships or find the necessary technical support for them. His eyes poured over the sensor scans. Looks like it's in good shape...

Then the Mandalorians arrived, which brought some measure of comfort to the old officer. But having been betrayed by supposed allies once, he was somewhat circumspect about their help. He rapidly typed in a few commands which sent an order to a nearby SJC task force to come in as immediate reinforcements. Do we do it now? I suppose we better launch our fighters before we don't have an opportunity to lower our shields...He turned to the ship's flight controller.

"Launch our fighters and deploy in a screen around the Thunderblight. Any of the uglies who gets past the Mandos will have another challenge..."

"And what about the star destroyer?"

"We run until we get more help..."

With that, the corvette began to jet away from the star destroyer's approach, taking a vector that would eventually allow it to rendezvous with the approaching Concord fleet.

Stone Gra'tua

 

[Vaux Gred]

Objective: 2
Ships: Neebray-class Cargo Frigate (Carrier conversion), 1x Directorate "Ghost" Viper Interceptor squadron, Talyc Squadron

Gir Quee Stone Gra'tua

Vaux nodded a bit in the cockpit.

“No problem. Mynok Nest should be pulling around too.” VK then began yelling behind her, and the pilot looked to see a star destroyer. She quickly sent the orders to her squadrons. “Keep away from that SD! We need to catch them off…. Osik! We’ve got Uglies!”

She pulled around, keeping close to the Thunderbolt as an escort until it could launch its own fighters. But then…. Other Mandos? They were diving into the Uglies as the Mynok Nest pulled into formation with the SJC vessel. Vaux looked, hitting her comms. “Good timing, vod.” After this though, she changed frequencies, pinging the Thunderbolt again so that the others wouldn’t exactly hear. “Our new buddy seems to have a knack for not mentioning who’s coming to the party.” Honestly Vaux would say this if her own brother kept info close to his chest, but she didn’t like not having the details.

 

[Alistair Abbott]

Location: Wayland System | Wayland | Smuggler HQ
Objective: Objective III – Survive & Escape
Status: Fight or Flight Activated
Equipment: Obvious Criminal Clothing | Hydrospanner | DH-17 Blaster Pistol
Nearby: Stone Gra'tua | Travot Ravenna

- - - - -​

Alistair blinked in confusion. One moment, the massive Krayt Dragon had been bounding through the area, smashing things, and eating his comrades. The next moment it was gone. That should have been a relief, but the irrational part of his brain was considering the possibility of a giant invisible lizard running around eating people. He might have assumed that he imagined the whole thing, but the destruction in sight said otherwise.

A voice below him told him to drop the blaster. Alistair peered over the railing, spotting the owner of the demand. He was tall, clad in only a black jumpsuit and carried no weapon. Despite that, Alistair felt menace radiate off him in waves. "Look I just do the maintenance, alright?" Alistair said, putting himself behind the more solid cover of a nearby crate. Couldn't rule out the possibility of a hidden weapon. "But you'll understand if I want to hold onto this, given y'all blasted my employers". He eyed the path back to the door and didn't like his chances. The floor of gallery was a wide mesh, easy enough to shoot through. If the man did have a hidden gun, then he'd be dropped before he could even touch the door panel. He needed to even the playing field.

While the man replied, Alistair reached out with his 'talent'. His eyes rolling back in his head, he probed nearby electronics with the force, feeling for the building's network. He found a familiar power line, one that he knew skirted past his workshop. His pushed his senses further, as the world moved in slow motion around him. He could feel the gentle hum of the speeder bikes as they charged, the groan from wreck in the corner of the shop as the last of its energy drained out. And in the corner of the room, he felt something slumbering.

"Awaken" Alistair whispered, both aloud and echoing out through the force. He felt the B2 in the workshop power up and come online. He felt it reach out with one arm and disconnect the power cables that plugged it into the wall. "Defend me" Alistair commanded, and he felt the droid stir into action. "Help me to esca-"

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Alistair's head snapped up and he groaned as he was pulled back into his body. As with all times he was surprised while using his talent, a massive migraine started. An intense, throbbing pain pulsated behind his eyes. The new voice belonged to dark-haired man, clad in a mix of amour and robes - with a lightsaber in hand. Alistair uttered a string of curses as he holstered his blaster and raised his hands in surrender. "I'm not looking for any trouble" he started, addressing both aggressors. "I just want-"

He was interrupted by the B2 crashing through the door. The machine took no time to take in the situation, instead immediately running toward the man with the lightsaber. With only one arm and no weapons installed, it is likely the droid intended to bludgeon the man to death. Alistair takes advantage of the confusion and makes a mad dash for the door.

 

[Stone Gra'tua]

Location : Smuggler's HQ, Wayland
Objective : 1 and 2
Space : Gir Quee Vaux Gred
Wayland Space : Victory Star Destroyer + Mando reinforcements

Space above Wayland began to resemble a roving scrapyard, as the Mandalorian newcomers engaged the Smuggler's Uglies, now to be referred to as the Smugglies. The Victory Star Destroyer fired its engines, moving in a pursuit of the SJC capital vessel. A nasty wedge shaped ship, the Smuggler capship began blasting away at extreme range with turbolaser and ion cannons at the Thunderblight. The Destroyer's IFF began broadcasting its name as the Gauntlet, lead vessel of the Smuggler/Pirate forces occupying Wayland.

Kalik Squadron, the Mandalorians who had come to aid in the battle, engaged the Smugglies with an unorthodox but highly effective attack manuever, approaching directly before a flanking slash. Then, as each Mando fighter drew a Smugglie on its tail, the covering Mando ship blew the pursuit to scrap metal. Deadly efficient, if a non-standard maneuver, the Mandos slashed again, taking down a second trio of Smugglies. In two seconds, the numbers had been cut to even, leaving six Smugglies and six Mando fightercraft. What followed was a standard furball.

Ground : Travot Ravenna Mig Gred Alistair Abbott
Further Mandalorian, Psadan and Myneyrsh reinforcements arriving

Stone was impressed at the young man's sense in not giving away his only weapon, though he couldn't see what difference a blaster was going to make. He was about to intercept the young fellow as he took flight, but Vansen cut him off. "Boss!" The Shi'ido checked his pace and turned. "We've made some new friends." She pointed out the head Psadan and head Myneyrsh, one squat, one tall, one male, one female. Stone nodded to each of the leaders in turn. Then he saw on his datapad that she hadn't meant only their new native allies. Outside, he could see a transport setting down, and it was raining Mandalorians, riding fire. So, his call to the exiles and lost Clans had not gone unanswered after all.

He grinned mercilessly. Now, the Smugglers were done for. What remained of them had fled deep into the complex, heading for what he assumed to be an escape ship. Outside the mountainous base, from the South came war horns blown by the Psadan Clans coming to war. From the North came the clicking sounds of Myneyrsh message sticks as their Clans also came to the battle. The base was being assaulted from all sides now, and despite the droids, the Smugglers and their allies were being whittled away, their forces defeated in detail. They had been put to flight.

Smuggler HQ : 50 goons (fleeing) 250 B2 Battle Droids (still fighting)

 

[Travot Ravenna]

"I'm not looking for any trouble. I just want-"

Travot blinked in surprise - holstering a blaster pistol started out as a good sign. No lightsaber...interesting. Not formally trained? His analysis was stopped by an impending sense of danger. In the midst of an enemy base, that sensation wasn't terribly surprising in and of itself. A brief glance at Alistair Abbott suggested to the jedi that whoever this was, he wasn't the direct threat. A loud thud followed by the door breaking down revealed the hulking silhouette of a B2 super battle droid. Well, that's a problem...

The droid briefly hesitated before rushing forward at him. That gave the jedi a few moments to draw his saber and activate it. The droid lunged forward just as the other man activated his blade. A bright blue beam of light sprang forth and jetted into the droid's torso. Sparks flared out of the machine as Travot whipped the blade upwards, causing it to slice through the battle droid's photoreceptor and droid brain. The droid teetered to a halt before starting to fall headfirst onto the jedi. Travot thrust his left hand forward, using it as a focus for the Force that channeled a Force push that knocked the battle droid backwards and onto the ground.

He turned his head to look back at the other Force sensitive, but the man was no longer there. Where did he go? He reached into the Force to feel for the other man's presence. He sent a telepathic message to the other man: It never looks good to run away from us. Remember that. He turned his attention back to Stone Gra'tua and the newly arriving mandalorians.

"Looks like it's only a matter of time, huh?"

 

[Gir Quee]

Tantara-series Corvette Thunderblight

"Our new buddy seems to have a knack for not mentioning who's coming to the party."

Gir considered the mandalorian's words carefully, "Could be. It could simply be the so-called fog of war. Intelligence is rarely perfect, and then there's simple game of chance or fate. I'll say this though, they don't seem to mind being in the forefront of the fight. Can't say I'd expect that of them if this is all a trap. But whoever they are, we'll outgun everyone soon."

The resources of a great galactic power can easily deal with small numbers of rank and file ships and troops. He eyed the countdown on his bridge console carefully. Help should be here right about...now. Bright flashes of cronau radiation began to light up the space around the Thunderblight as Task Force Blue Maw began to arrive, led the titular star destroyer Blue Maw leading a school of Trieste escort frigates and Liberte light corvettes. Dozens of starfighters began to swarm of the Concord ship's hangars, mostly Typhoon IIs smattered with a number of Vortex IIs and Cyclone IIs. The blonde man let out a subdued smile as he turned to make eye contact with the ship's helmsman.

"Bring us about to join formation with the Blue Maw, and launch the squadron."

As the corvette began to awkwardly swing about to join the new ships, the corvette launched a squadron of Eta Angel-series Fast Interceptors.

Stone Gra'tua | Vaux Gred