Kashyyyk Me Outside, How 'Bout That?

[Commander Firestorm]

The Venator's main hangar opened and a few squadrons came flying out of it, being led by what looked like a heavily modified LAAT/i gunship, apparently modified for space combat and travel. The gunship made its way toward the attacking craft, guided rockets cycling into the dual launchers on the roof of the ship. What looked like captured First Order Special Forces TIE fighters (The ones with shields, a hyperdrive, and a rear gunner) flanking it on either side, they also had GA and SJO makings on their solar collection panels.

[member="Cassius Droma"]
[member="Honus Teach"]
[member="Tanaski Yumi"]
[member="Jon Lekka"]
[member="Jethro Rekali"]
[member="Angel"]
[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Mia Monroe]

[member="Jethro Rekali"] [member="Honus Teach"] [member="Cassius Droma"] [member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Jon Lekka"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Commander Firestorm"]


It was like they’d placed a heavy kick in the centre of a hornets nest, within minutes the sky was alive with activity. Proton rockets and concussion missiles streamed from the mountain, gunships flooded from the Venator class destroyer that had dropped out of hyperspace above them. Spector squadron scattered on Jethro’s orders, each picking their own target. Angel stopped watching her sensors and let her instincts guide her as turrets fire began to pepper her shields.

An alarm blared signalling something had a lock on. Concussion missile. “Feth.” She tipped the A wing nose down and plummeted towards the surface, hairs on the back of her neck rising as it crept closer and closer, the ground rushing up towards her. She pulled back on the yoke, her stomach pitching as she levelled out and started to climb again. The concussion missile exploded behind her, blinding her sensors momentarily and knocking her shields down by 20 percent.

Reasonable. She kicked the thrusters into full power, engines screaming towards the moutain face. Two concussion missiles streaked from hr A-wing targeting the hailfires. If she hit, it’d be a pretty explosion followed by an even prettier avalanche.

Jethro’s voice called over her comms and Angel sucked in a breath. “I see him.” she replied, breaking off her attack run and streaking towards Jethro from his starboard side. He slid past her line of sight and the A-wing on his tail followed his path. Fingers depressed and she opened fire.

 

[Jethro Rekali]

[member="Commander Firestorm"] [member="Honus Teach"] [member="Cassius Droma"] [member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Angel"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Jon Lekka"]

"Good flying, Angel-"

Another pair of light warheads crashed into the B-wing. Shields vanished, half a dozen system lights went red or amber, and the ship trembled as an entire S-foil came off. Out of twelve merc pilots, three were dead, and now Jethro had to put his entire focus on not ticking that number up to four.

The B-wing plowed into a snowdrift with an almighty crack. His inertial dampeners failed in a heartbeat. Through a spiderwebbed canopy, Jethro watched the rest of Spector Squadron begin to hyperjump away, one scattered ship at a time. He sincerely - surprising altruism - hoped nobody tried to pick him up. Any ship that stuck around for long was facing the steepest odds.

He cracked the cockpit, found himself facing a small Antarian Ranger patrol, and tossed his gun in the snow with a curse. Ah well. At least the Spectors had made some pretty fireballs.

 

[Jon Lekka]

Allies: [member="Commander Firestorm"] | [member="Deslin Vegar"] | [member="Faye Demos"] | [member="Jyoti Nooran"] | @Tanski Yumi | [member="Cassius Droma"]
Enemies: [member="Jethro Rekali"] | [member="Angel"] | [member="Honus Teach"]

​

This sucks. This seriously sucks. As he hurtled through the sky in a hunk of metal he had barely just learned how to pilot, the emotions running through Jon's head were mostly fear, anxiety, and a general apathy towards dogfighting. Flipping the switch to enable his shield, Jon felt his A-Wing hum as an invisible sheath covered his ship, protecting him from harm. Hopefully.

Watching Jade Leader hurtle towards the bomber, Jon nervously swallowed whatever apprehensions he had about flying towards a bunch of mercenaries who almost certainly had more experience flying than him. Throttling up, he felt his A-Wing give a bit of a kick as it shot through the atmosphere of Kashyyyk, the lush greenery of the planet gone beneath the serenity of the clouds and the barrage of laser beams. Locking on to an enemy fighter, he let loose a flow of poorly targeted laser fired. "Druk. Druk. Druk."

Twitching his joystick in a vain attempt to follow to enemy pilot, he became quickly outmaneuvered and watched as the pilot flew towards a missile embankment. Emotions raging, Jon let out a long breath and steadied himself. He was bad at this, but he had to help protect the Order. He could do this, all he had to do was hope. And be absurdly luckily. Swerving his ship to point at a nearby enemy, he let out deep breaths as he hurtled towards it.

Patience. Deep breath. Calm yourself. Focusing intently on the starfighter ahead of him, he watched it as it swerved into his targeting reticle. Letting off two concussion missiles, and a series of laser fire, just in case, he let out a whooping yell as the enemy fighter burst into flames. Jon twitched the joystick of his ship, still trying to understand the sensitivity of the ship's piloting systems, but he felt accomplished. He had scored his first kill, but he still had a lot left to learn. Turning his fighter around, he steamed back into the fray, ready to fight.

 

[Honus Teach]

[member="Jethro Rekali"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Angel"] [member="Commander Firestorm"] [member="Kat Decoria"] [member="Jerit Kolomor"] [member="Deslin Vegar"] [member="Jyoti Nooran"]

"Kark." Teach said as he drew the concussion missiles away and into the hugh trees. It was a gamble, and not one he wanted to lose. He wove in and out of the trees and watched the two missles on his tail burst against the tall trunks as they tried to follow his course.

"Spector squadron, this is Spector four." Honus said as he pulled up and out of the canopy of the forest, "Bug out now, we can't do more against these odds."

He pulled his E-wing back toward his wing man and prepared to make for orbit as the Jedi forces tailed him and his squad mates. He wouldn't let Jethro go that easy, but with this kind of heat he wasn't going to last long enough to save him. He wove his ship back and forth in the sky to make a target lock more difficult as he sped away. Maybe they wouldn't bother to follow. Maybe.

 

[Mia Monroe]

"Jethro!" She yelled angling her ship to watxh his b-wing plough into the snow below. In the heartbeat she remained stationary, someone locked on to her. Anothwr missike rocked her ship, shields taking most of the damage, down to thirty percent.

There was no fireball following his crash she considered doing a flyby when Teach's voice cracked over her comms, bringing her sharply back to reality. She spun the ship about, pinchrd the thustwrs into full power to catch up withbthe rest of the squad, spooling up her hyperdrive.

"We'll come back for you." She said under her breath. "We'll find a way."

 

[Kat Decoria]

[member="Jethro Rekali"]

Seeing the pilot crash into the snow drift gave Kat a surprising amount of satisfication. She was proud of the Silver pilots, they were able to hold these invaders back with some ease. Or at least she thought they made it look easy. Kat was never a pilot really, though she loved engines and fixing things, it was all too much to do at once for her. Fixing an engine or fighting were much simpler tasks.

Kat walked with the patrol up to the pilot, he dropped his weapon fairly quickly. She felt a bit cautious, it seemed too easy for him to give up. However, her sense of duty kicked in. Pulling out the handcuffs, she handcuffed the pilot. "Wasn't exactly smart hitting the Silver Jedi home world. Surprised you might such a silly attack plan." Kat stated as she arrested him. Her Echani battle mind on thinking through the reasons why they do this. She couldn't think of a sensible reason.

 

[Jethro Rekali]

[member="Kat Decoria"]

Jethro accepted the cuffs without resistance and started trudging through the snow with his guards.

"That's one point of view," he said. Down the slope, the base wasn't looking healthy. He took satisfaction from the burned fighters and speeders, drowned and scattered by a tidal wave of slush. Warheads, cannon fire, flame carpets - the base had taken serious, though not catastrophic, damage.

Not that he cared much about the mission on a personal level, of course.

"But let's put it another way. When I get out of jail, there'll be a serious bank account waiting for me."

 

[Kat Decoria]

Kat listened to what the pilot had to say. A merc it seemed, annoying, wasteful use of skills Kat often thought. Looking around at the destruction Kat shook her head, it wouldn't take long to rebuild after this. Most the ships could be repurposed as scrapmetal to construct new ships, at least Kat could think a few ways that they could be flyable once more.

"Ah yes, a little damage and you think you have knocked us down huh?" Kat inquired, she was curious to know who was behind the attack. "Who sent you to us? Because you ain't get to that bank account any time soon. Also, sure some clever tech guys can find it and freeze the account now that we know that's how they are paying you. So long story short, if you ever get out there ain't gunna be any money for you to collect, unless you help us track whoever contracted."

[member="Jethro Rekali"]

 

[Jethro Rekali]

[member="Kat Decoria"]

The cuffs were a little tight, but like heck was he going to whine.

"Kid, nobody hires a squadron of disposable mercs for a knockout shot. At a guess, this was pretty much just harassment. Worth something to someone somewhere, and they're the kind of folks to pay up. Who knows: maybe you'll figure out my name, find a burner account, arrange jurisdiction to freeze the funds, keep me in jail the rest of my natural life."

He paused then, shin-deep in snow, and met her eyes with a sharp grin.

"But judging by how you guys ran away from the Sith and abandoned all the planets that were counting on you...I kinda doubt it."

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Allies: [member="Commander Firestorm"] [member="Jon Lekka"] [member="Cassius Droma"] [member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Kat Decoria"] [member="Faye Demos"] [member="Jyoti Nooran"]
Enemies: [member="Honus Teach"] [member="Jethro Rekali"] [member="Angel"]

The enemy fighters retreated, with four units being shot down, but the loss of two Hailfire-X droids, with missiles hitting their exposed heads, causing the droids to explode and with their explosions, causing another landslide, was tainting what victory could be had. Oh well, I can always have those Hailfire-X droids replaced, she thought, while [member="Kat Decoria"] brought a handcuffed [member="Jethro Rekali"] closer to what remained of the base. Kashyyyk was safe again for the time being, but for how long? She'd rather not think about it. But... if Jethro Rekali's employer was a private party, she could order their assets in SJ-land frozen, unless that was a major faction, in which case freezing the assets may not be of any use, knowing that they could just borrow more - at their own risk of course. She was frightened to see not only what could come out of the Metharian Nebula, but also what comes out of this operation. It likely is a prelude to a much greater operation, but directed to another planet. But she is not as interested in how much Jethro's band is getting paid as she is in who hired them.

Spoiler: SAMs

3 Hwacha MLRS

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Redacted

 

[Kat Decoria]

Kat growled a little as merc mentioned their move from Voss. It wasn't what she wanted to do, retreating like that made them appear weak and unable to protect the people they swore to before. She pushed him towards [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] as Kat knew she was the one in charge out the rest them. Chain of command or some such nonsense. "Leaving Voss was a mistake. But we have been able to regroup and stand stronger, constant battles were taking their toil."

Push him hard forward she looked at Jessica. "Here you are, these Jedi likely figure out who you are and who you work for. The Force allows people to inspect another's mind, probe around for answers. Good luck getting free mate." She whispered to him darkly then stood closer to Jessica.

"Prisoner. Ship crashed nearby, could salvage it for parts later too. Be handy for rebuilding ships. Also, he told me that he should have an account where his contractor wired his money. Figure he must be the one in charge of the attack, but got no idea." Kat informed Jessica before leaving to look at the various wreckages.

[member="Jethro Rekali"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"All right, prisoner, I'm Jessica. In today's environment, there are several parties we suspect are willing to pay up for the ability to take potshots at us, especially after we left Voss. Do any of the following events mean anything to you? Mirial, Tython, Muunilinst, L-49, Dagobah, Thyferra"

Most of the main belligerents were factions whose reluctance to use hyperdrives but she wouldn't put it past any of them to hire mercenaries when the ability to carry out starfighter missions required hyperdrives. But perhaps, if none of these events meant anything to [member="Jethro Rekali"], then it was unlikely that the contractor was a primary belligerent of the Great Galactic War. If any of those events meant anything to him, then his relationship to any of the factions involved in the event will be a factor in why he took part in the attack on Kashyyyk. For some weird reason, she feels that there was something in him that he couldn't quite unlock, but perhaps that might be something else to use as leverage if necessary. She turned to [member="Kat Decoria"] before pursuing the interrogation of the prisoner, hoping that perhaps she could extract some information from the wreckage, using psychometry, on the controls or the craft's black box:

"Oh and if you could bring me the black box or the yoke from the wreckage, it would be well-appreciated!"

 

[Jethro Rekali]

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"] [member="Kat Decoria"]

Gorram, but he was getting cold. The flight suit could only do so much.

"Those names are pretty familiar to me, yeah. Blonde, brunette, redhead, Rutian, Lethan, cyborg. Or maybe the Lethan was on Mirial and the blonde was on Dagobah. Not gonna lie, Jessica, it's been a while."

The black box would yield a flight log that began at the Void Station shadowport, ambled down the Mara, and bounced past Trandosha. Nothing hugely incriminating. A mind probe, or Force senses in general, wouldn't turn up much either. The Mandalorians had grafted a Vong symbiont to his cells, to cut him off from the Force. If these folks wanted to know what he knew, they'd need to do it one of the old-fashioned ways. No shortcuts, no silver bullets.

 

[Kat Decoria]

Kat nodded her head. Black box was a smart move, though she was unsure how psychometry worked. It didn't concern her, that was Jedi business and she was barely coping with all the new information that came with being a Ranger. She grabbed a jacket and walked towards the wreckage once more. There were a few salvagers roaming around, picking pieces off it for use. Kat jumped high into the cockpit, her cybernetic legs granted that extra boost.

Looking around, she quickly found the black box and removed it, carefully ensuring there were no fail safes or traps to wipe the data. She extracted the box and headed back to base. Handing it to a uniformed soldier, she dumped the box in his hands. "Jedi Med-beq wants it, I gotta sort out this salvaging team before scavengers arrive and pick the ships clean." Kat stated before she ran off towards a group of salvagers.

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"] | [member="Jethro Rekali"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"This information suggests that at least one of the wingmen was, at some point, affiliated with the Sith Empire, the First Order or the Galactic Empire, and maybe might still be"

Upon receiving the black box from [member="Kat Decoria"], she finds out that, as far as she could tell, [member="Jethro Rekali"] went at Void Station, and then approached the planet via Trandosha. Not, per se, incriminating, but perhaps that was a lead. And then the possibility that one of the wingmen being a SE, GE or even FO agent was even more troubling, with her suspecting the GE more so than the other two, because the GE has the most history with the SJ, but all three have been hostile towards the SJ at some point. As much as she would like to think the Imps were responsible for the attack, this was a tenuous lead at best. Maybe the Imps had a few fronts among the mercenary world, then again, she shouldn't rule out the Sith or the First Order. She had to be reminded that not every dark-sider likes frontal assaults. Before handing over the prisoner to one Valkren, she had one last question for Jethro based on the psychometric findings from the black box. Jessica was not the most aware about the mercenarial world, so she would probably take his word for it at this point.

"Void Station being in Galactic Empire territory, we have some reason to suspect that the employer may have some ties with the Galactic Empire, or, more outlandish still, the GE may have planted at least one of your wingmen into your squadron. I may be wondering, who are the regulars that post jobs at Void Station?"

 

[Jethro Rekali]

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

"Lots of folks post jobs at Void Station. It's a major fringe port on the Mara. If you're in the mood for fishing, it's as good a place to start as any. Keep me posted. I'd like to hear how the Jedi investigate in Imperial space. I bet you guys will love it. All that repressed need for jackboots and stiff collars.

"As for a plant - yeah, probably. Half of us never met before last week. That's a perk of hiring a mercenary furball: good luck teasing out a pattern.

"Anyways, I'll have a chat with your interrogators, warm up a little, and we'll see what we can see."