Hope

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan hadn't been with the Alliance when it had formed. He had been a child living an almost normal life back on Coruscant, back before the Sith had taken him in.

If Jacen had been with him he would have remarked how similar this was to the beginnings of the Alliance. A battered and bruised fleet, frustrated and angry soldiers. Jedi left questioning their fate.

They had rallied around each other then. They had fought the war their way, not how the enemy wanted. The Alliance had lost several border worlds, but not without making the First Order forces pay for the victory. They could still fight.

There was still hope

KARFEDDION ALLIANCE BASE

Trextan swiped his prosthetic arm across the table, throwing flimsiplast in all directions. The assembled officers looked at him like he was a spoiled child denied his favourite toy, yet none of them said anything. Perhaps because they had all felt like doing the same thing when the analysis had shown that mounting a full scale counter attack was tactically unsound.

Outside came the drone of more Y-Wings and X-Wings returning to refuel, repair and rearm.

“Calm down Trextan,” a Colonel finally replied. “That we can't mount a full assault and supply it sufficiently to retake those worlds doesn't mean we can't attack back. But we need to fight smart now. We've never been about attrition. We need key targets to strike quickly.”

---

This is for new and old.members to get together following the invasion.

Things to do:

Vehicles/Repairs and mods: a lot of ships that limped back to base took heavy damage. [member="Jorus Merrill"] may be available to recommend upgrades.
Reorganise: new characters mingle with those from broken units returning from battle and form new bonds (I see a lot of new pilots)
Heal up: the base has a medical facility.
Train: Force Users from many disciplines fought together. Exchange knowledge and tips on fighting dark side Ren.
Plan: discuss where to strike back


[member="Garven Antillies"]
[member="Pharrel Keating"]
[member="Silara Varis"]
[member="Vishkar"]
[member="Rick Kaloo"]
[member="Bill Kenho"]

 

[Van Bri'tsyd]

KARFEDDION ALLIANCE BASE

Cody's shuttle touched down at Karfeddion base, he had one to may arguments with his younger half brother about a the virtues of pacifism and was looking to sign on with a proper Navy. He couldn't fight in the back water ways of the coalition, always out gunned and under maned. He was a soldier, trained by and served in the Republic Army till that want to pot. Long story short he was looking for a job, any what would allow him to get out of his red headed step brothers shadow and a chance to make a life for himself free of comparisons to his over achieving sibling.

As he walked off the ramp you could feel the mixture of anger and disgust in the air. They had taken a beating but were still hungry got more. It was a good thing, these were soldiers and the will to fight was still well entrenched within them. Grabbing a wrench jockey by the jacket lapels he pulled him over to have a chat. Taking the cigar from his mouth he exhaled smoke liberally into the mans face before he spoke.

"Listen kid, no questions. I'm looking for the General's tent. I hear you got your teeth kicked in by some power hungry imperials and can use some help. Just point me in the direction and i'll take it from there."

 

[Taheera Sollo]

The mirialan sat atop one of the small, grassy knolls, her back to a rotating satellite. The massive structure whirred behind her, creating a certain amount of white noise that cut back on the hustle and bustle of ships landing and those scurrying below. Green fingers plucked and picked at the grass between her legs, going over the last parts of the fight at North Barakesh in her mind.

She, Rekha, Rebel, Trextan, and that odd, elf woman had had that sith and his army. She could've sworn. Just went to show how quickly tides changed in a war. Another blade of grass was plucked from the earth and then another.

Pluck. Pluck. Pluck.

The healer should be grateful they'd all gotten off planet alive. She should be grateful none of her friends were seriously injured or lost...she'd heard reports of others missing. She should be at the medical centers and helping, kriff, getting help herself. Ribs were still cracked from the sith's kick to her side.

But she found herself rooted to the spot, chin resting on her pulled-up knees, fingers still plucking the grass free from the earth around her as she watched the activity below without really watching it at all. She needed a moment to be broody. Maybe a long moment.

 

[Garven Antillies]

Looking over his Y-Wing making sure everything was in proper order. Garven had recently just been assigned to Gold Squadron, always preferring piloting bombers rather than fighters, Garven found Gold Squadron quiet understaffed now. With the recent attack from the First Order, it left a leadership vacuum in the squadron. Most of the veterans were killed in the fighting from TIE Squadrons, or were killed in assaults on the First Order's ships in Asmeru. Though Gold Leader was able to make it back, his wingmen however didn't. This unfortunate chain of events led to Garven gaining the call sign of Gold Two and being placed as the executive officer for the squadron. There were noises all around the hanger as pilots and other members of the GADF licked their wounds from the defeat we were handed.

Being intent to make sure his bomber was ready for the next fight, Garven called away from his work by his R5 unit, with some beeping and chirps.

"What is it checkers?"

Garven gave his R5 unit the name checkers cause of the black and white colors on the droid make it look like a checker patter. The droid responded to the question with more beeps and chirps.

"No we aren't going anywhere right now. However we might be reassigned at some point."

R5 made some chirps and beeps again before just sitting quietly again while Garven continued to work on his Y-Wing.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

She could brood now, but Trextan embodied it. The Justicar emerged from the bunker having passed [member="Cody Bantam"] and [member="Garven Antillies"]on his way from the command room. He didn’t even raise his gaze to meet hers as he approached.

Trextan seemed to deflate as he lowered himself on the grass beside her. For a second there was silence. Then a whir and a flash of metal followed by a thud as his artificial fist was embedded into the grass. It was petulant, but he still didn’t care.

“They say it makes sense to fall back from those worlds and then strike a more strategic target. One of them said they needed Voidstalker to rally the Jedi for an attack. Another looked at me like an idiot before the first one clarified ‘Marshal Voidstalker’.”

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Fingers paused midair from grass plucking as Trextan's fist made a thundering contact with the earth, sending her gathered pile flying. She didn't look at him either. Her gaze was too lost, staring into space - at nothing and everything at once. She didn't need to look at him to be aware of his mood or how close he sat. They'd shared a bond, fighting with the others and from before. However, if he was looking for some sort of words of encouragement or a cheery disposition, she didn't have it.

Myrtle ellipses refocused and tracked to the fist-sized hole in the earth next to her. "We just left them," she whispered, her voice barely making it over the satellite behind them and the roar of ships above. "People we promised to protect. We just. Left. Gave up. Future targets or not, I'm not going to abandon them, Trex."

 

[Eugen Aker]

“Strong people don't put others down... They lift them up.” ― Michael P. Watson

Then

Hope. If there was one thing that the Watchman hoped for, it was that all the Jedi would finally stand finally stand together as one against the encroaching darkness brought on by the Sith as they worked through their proxies. No more judging or bickering about who had it right in dogma or policy. Perhaps the Silver Jedi and Galactic Alliance would never quite see eye to eye on things, but at least she could say that she had tried to do her part before leaving them to be.

From Kiribi, Carida, and all Silver Space, several formations of vessels would depart to make the voyage south to link up with the GADF. It was no great armada of warships (outside of escorts), but equally vital medical carriers and factory ships to help the Alliance recover for the next round. Good logistics was often a deciding factor in war. That was about all she could offer at this juncture until the heads of Galactic Alliance and Silver Assembly finally sat down to figure something out. That day may never come, but it still served her interests to see the GADF back in fighting form.

((If some GADF Flag Officer, Government Type, or Jedi Marshal would be willing to chat with me upon my arrival, then that would be nice. If not, then I’m just going to pass out some supplies and peace out after the end of my run.))

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

A word of reasurance likely would have just rolled off him anyway. He needed to rage, to grieve a little and get it out of his system. He screwed up his face, balled his other fist and breathed short, sharp breaths.

"It'll be the worst for the aliens. If the First Order moved in to pacify any rebellion you know they'll get it the worst under their regime. They always do.

"We'll do...Something..." He shook his head and sighed.

 

[Cathul Thuku]

Cathul still held out hope after these sorties on Asmeru and Faldos, even though Faldos did not feature First Order forces as initially expected. Victory on Faldos was not enough to compensate for the climactic defeat of the Navy on Barkesh or Mustafar even, to her, even though the involvement of Therapy Command on Mustafar was a medvac affair: other major commands were. The First Order will be quick to describe me as just a glorified medvac admiral, but I was the one who froze several enemy commanders into place on Asmeru, she thought, while reading the AAR. True, they made the First Order pay the price for victory, but without proper logistical support, they would be toasted before long. With Tanith being mostly responsible for medvac on Mustafar of all things, the First Order propaganda would most likely describe Tanith rather than Cathul. Yet, [member="Arisa Yune"] brought much-needed logistical reinforcements:

"Admiral, we have a visitor looking for you. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but the visitor appears to be some high-ranking Silver Jedi official: the Grand Admiral of the Silver Jedi Order, or otherwise someone well-acquainted with the logistical part of the Silver Jedi military" Tanith warned Cathul.

"What brings you and the Silver Jedi to Karfeddion?"

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

Arms encircled around her drawn knees, hugging her legs, tightly. Head turned sharply, her gaze finally meeting Trex's features. Maybe there was a purpose to her essence transfer because she could actually understand what it meant to be an alien. She'd always had a hard time fitting in, anyway. But this wasn't about her.

The healer was just as frustrated as Trextan. Arms tightened around herself. She blinked, staring at his profile. "What if....we got a small group together to go back? Find those who want to evacuate and get them out? Maybe establish an underground network for those who wish to stay."

For those who wanted to serve the alliance in another way, as spies. It might work. Plus it'd give the alliance an in if others wanted out that they couldn't get to or know about on the first few runs.

It was dangerous and maybe a little reckless. Who knew if they'd even be able to get past FO lines? But things were always rough when a new regime started. The FO would make more mistakes now than any other time.

And would the alliance approve the resources for something like this?

A part of her didn't care what the alliance thought right now.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Arisa Yune"]

"Those are Silver ships," Jacen remarked as he looked through the side viewport of the U-Wing. Rather than meet up with the main fleet he'd done a quick tour of Alliance installations to check their status. Lothal and Kro Var felt most isolated in the wake of the First Order invasion.

"Yes sir, they sent some aid our way it seems."

Jacen watched carefully, counting ships. Their fleet had been drawn into the pointless battle at the anomaly and despite fairing well had been kept away from several other border worlds. On the plus side whilst they'd lost several good ships the Alliance still had a solid platform of naval power. It always looked a rag tag collection of corellian vessels, smooth Mon calamari cruisers and angular hammerheads, but the Alliance fleet had weathered a great deal over the years.

"Heading for the base."

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

This time he turned to face her with a pained expression. He'd finally found some form of cause to get behind and suddenly it all felt pointless. It hurt. It left him feeling angry and hollow. It made him wish he didn't care about anything. About the family he'd lost, the childhood that had been taken from him or even his arm.

It was easy to consider her idea. "I want to help, but I can't fly and don't know anyone who could arrange something like that. I might be able to convince the Justicars that the closest worlds, Rutan maybe, should still be under our protection."

He looked forwards and shook his head. Trextan wanted to do something, but he needed to think. "Maybe that's it," he murmured to himself. "Working up a plan is still better than not doing anything."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Everything checks out, Master Raaf, no serious injuries besides a few bumps and bruises," the medical officer said. Taeli was sitting in the field hospital set up on Karfeddion, feet hanging off the edge of the examination table. Her armor was tucked away in the corner, some dings and dents that would need attended to. Bloody Connor deciding to drop a ceiling of a cavern on them. Still, she was more annoyed by circumstances that followed. Apparently the First Order had gotten the jump on the Alliance and more forces had been heading for the sector, and they needed to evac. They might have been border worlds, but she was irritated by something else.

The order had come down from the high command that they had been unable to destroy Vader's Castle at the very beginning of the battle. Taeli had noted it as a mistake, and still led the research team there... but now she was starting to think of a few different trains of thought. The order had been made because they wanted to preserve the site for study, even if it was a dark side nexus. Hmm maybe she could use that and a few observations from the battle to her advantage.

"Thank you, you should go see to your other patients, Doctor," she replied. The doctor nodded and left, leaving her chart behind for a nurse to gather up. Taeli leaned forward, thinking hard, hands coming together as she debated what she could do.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

One arm relaxed its tight grip around her drawn-up legs. Fingers began plucking at the grass again. He was right. They needed to think about this. But she just wasn't in the mood. She didn't join the Alliance to get stuck in planning like a committee! She had to DO something. Anything.

Curved shoulders tensed in agitation and frustration.

"I can fly. Mostly," she scowled. "Good enough, maybe." She wasn't the best pilot. Mediocre summed it up, relying heavily on auto-pilot. And once again, she felt stuck. "I'm not talking about Rutan. I want to go back to Barkesh," she spoke quietly and looked up.

 

[Rick Kaloo]

He had considered having Ne-Cal join the Alliance for a while, but now, he felt, was one of the best times possible. The Alliance had been hit hard at the Mustafar battle, and he could supply new ships in the dozens. As seven Essex starfighter killers flew down from the upper atmosphere, now two kilometers above the base, he wondered if this was the right choice.

The Alliance would probally be a good place for him to expand his business, and they also shared his personal belief in peace and equality, but he wasn't sure whether that was enough. It would likely be a long path through developing new tech, and there was a chance that he wouldn't even make it to what he dreamed Ne-Cal to be. However, he knew that it would take patience to happen, and he could wait for a long time.

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

(Btw, preview on next 2 Ne-Cal designs. One will be a corvette armed for fights with larger ships, meant to serve in pairs with an Essex. The other is a light anti-warship gun designed for fighting frigate and corvettes.)

 

[Van Bri'tsyd]

By this time Cody had found his way into the command area. Crews are bussling around, junior officers looking at star maps intently like they were speaking it them. He had seen this all before, there was confusion, dismay and an over all feeling of depression. As the Admiral walked though the scene he had a trooper come up to him.

"Ah sir no smoking in restricted area's" he said pointing to Cody's cigar.

"Look kid, not here to make trouble but a man has his vises, don't see posted sign about that poodoo so you can take that command and shove it. I'm here by the invitation of [member="Jacen Voidstalker"] , you many have heard of the man? Let him know i'm here and ready for briefing."

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

"They've rebelled before, but after what the First Order did on Eriadu I'm not sure we want to encourage that," he replied. They'd mercilessly bombarded the surface of that world as they'd left.

"We need people to smuggle information and people in and out. One of the locals was telling me how they resisted the New Order like that. Back in the civil war." He looked over at Taheera.

"We need to find any of those who came back with is from Barkesh. See if they want to help. We can either get the underground resistance going to get more people out."

Trextan was only young, he didn't understand how complex such an undertaking was, that it would take Alliance intelligence thousands of man hours to carry out such an endeavour.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Cody Bantam"] [member="Garven Antillies"] [member="Arisa Yune"] [member="Rick Kaloo"]

The shuttle came down over the hive of activity that was the Alliance base. He could see through the window that the fighter squadrons were haphazardly arranged. A trio of Y-Wings in bronze next to four X-Wings with yellow stripes and an A-Wing in black were all that remained of their respective squadrons.

He hadn't seen much combat before the call was made to withdraw. It evoked a pang of guilt to see soldiers and Jedi alike wearing the scars of the battle like watermarks.

Marshal Voidstalker walked across the compound to one of the command bunkers with a small retinue of officers. There he would be available for anyone who needed to talk to him.

 

[Rick Kaloo]

About three hundred meters up, the nine Starfighter Killers split into groups of three, in V formation. One V landed just to the west of the base, one to the east, and his V, near one of the command bunkers. The ships gently set down, and a ramp opened up on his Killer. He walked out with a group of ten other Mon Calamari associates, while the rest of the ship's crew stayed inside.

As his cliche of Mon Calamari officials walked toward the bunker, he once again questioned joining the Alliance. Any faction could give him good offers and help him in his production, but he felt it was the Alliance that was really special to him. After all, he was a very kind man, and they shared these beliefs. Well, it's now or never.

He came to the bunker's door, and with the code the rebel lookout had given him, opened the door.

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"] | [member="Trextan Voidstalker"] | [member="Cody Bantam"] | [member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

She began to nod, hands ceasing the plucking of grass once again. "No, not a rebellion," she whispered. She wouldn't be able to handle it if an entire planet got razed because of their actions. Fingers tightened into a fist at her side, twisting and squeezing the plucked strands of grass. Very slowly, her fingers began to uncurl as she tried to loosen the tightening feeling in her chest.

"That's a good idea," finally, she had something to do. A plan, well, the beginnings of a plan. "If we find a contact, maybe they can tell us where to start on Barkesh," myrtle-ellipses drifted from Trex's face back to the hustle and bustle just below. "I could even go back - on my own, say I'm delivering a group of healing supplies. Maybe the sith we fought didn't put our faces out on the First Order wanted lists, yet."

It was a naive thought, especially for a Mirialan with such distinguishable features. Still, she had her mind set on returning and helping the people left behind there....somehow.

She, too, was young. She didn't realize the undertaking of what she was proposing but she was determined to see it through and make it happen.

"Thanks," she bumped his shoulder with hers, "for not making me feel so alone in this, even if you're needed somewhere else." She wasn't a fool. She didn't know what Trex would do from here. Most likely Jacen would want him somewhere to lead the troops to strike back against the First Order. Or, there were rumors he was sweet on some pilot girl. Maybe they already had plans for a mission together.