Looking Beneath the Covers[TGE/GA]

[Subject 37]

Space
Near Enarc

Valerie sat quietly within the cockpit of her TIE Hunter, exposed wiring to her left and a dead console to her right. A scowl was painted on her otherwise pretty face, features only half hidden by a helmet that was decidedly stylized not after the famed Venom Guard's usual uniform. There were no insignia's anywhere on the flightsuit she wore and the TIE had been stripped of any and all identifying markers.

This was of course, all on purpose.

To anyone looking at Valerie, to anyone looking at her ship, she would not seem as a member of the Empire or even an associate of it. For all appearance sake she was little more than a grungy spacer who happened upon an ancient scrap heap of a starfighter and managed to fix it up to the point where it was actually flyable. Of course, beneath the rather dank exterior of the TIE it's systems were all fully operational.

It was all part of the ruse that she and the others were working so hard to maintain. All part of the fact that their mission was one to be conducted undercover. For that purpose the other dozen or so ships around her were of a similar nature. Broken down looking Starvipers, ARC-170's and even an old Agressor were hanging around in a loose formation behind her, all clustered around a single intersector sloop.

There were other vessels too, all modeled in the same way as those of the Venom Guard.

Today they were not Imperials. They were not members of the Glorious Navy that had sundered the Silver Jedi. No, today they were pirates. It was a fantasy that Valerie had never had, and in truth it put a damper on her usual mood.

I've only ever wanted to play a pirate in one place. She thought glumly. And it's not in space.

Still, orders were orders, and those of the Venom Guard were exact. There was a small Naval Base the Galactic Alliance operated on Enarc. No major fleet was stationed there and by all accounts the place was little more than a border outpost to monitor Imperial Fleet movements. Venom's assignment was simple, strike the outpost, neutralize all forces present, and then take any relevant data within the station.

Easy enough, as long as no one karked up. She smiled for the first time that day and then reached up to flip a comm-switch.

::This is Viper One, spool up hyperdrives and prepare for jump::

At least they would have a little fun.

 

[Marcus Tritum]

“I hate pirates,” Fabian muttered, adjusting his garish spacer attire. Being out of uniform while on mission felt horribly wrong.

“What was that, Captain?”

“Nothing. Prepare to jump.”

The crew of the YV-929 armed freighter were all Imperials, but today they resembled pirates through and through. Fabian hoped it did not affect their discipline in combat.

The lines of hyperspace stretched around them, then they catapulted into the blue whorl. Fabian clasped his hands behind his back and awaited arrival.

[member="Anjin Kent"] [member="Horus Vizsla"] [member="Valerie Rein"]

 

[Horus Vizsla]

"Why do you always get stuck on the small ships." Horus asked [member="Fabian]. This was the second mission he'd been assigned to work with the rising naval officer. This ship was twice as cramped as the last one. It made things feel awkward. Not to mention that he wasn't in his imperial uniform. This armored flightsuit was good enough to let him fly around in space with his jetpack, but it simply didn't offer the protection his Beksar'gam did.

"I think it's high time you got a corvette. Maybe an Aiwha. That seems a good ship." He recommended. Horus wasn't a ship man in truth, but he'd checked up a few different models to try and a get a better speaking ground with Lieutenant Fabian. Balfour seemed to think the man had promise, which hopefully meant the naval officer would help him leave a good impression. He was already planning on leaving a good impression with this raid, but networking was always beneficial.

Unless Fabian came to hate his guts of course.

 

[Kiyron]

What was a traffic analyst doing on Enarc? He could see it in the eyes of the soldiers as he passed them. A temporary posting to Enarc to "analyze local traffic patterns for terrorist vulnerabilities" had dragged him back to GA space. But really, Kiyron had a hunch they just wanted to keep an eye on him for a while. He'd been out and about in the galaxy with little contact with headquarters in an extended period of time.

And so here was, sitting in a mess hall in a uniform that wasn't his under a name that wasn't his own. His gear were stashed in his quarters and ready to go. He itched to be able to leave and do at least something.

He'd forgotten how boring military life was.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Valerie Rein"] [member="Fabian"] [member="Horus Vizsla"] [member="Kiyron"] [member="Decker Willo"]

As boring as Enarc was, and as remote as it was she was still there. And it still had a system of Hyperspace monitor beacons, keeping a watchful eye for incursions into GA space. Karren didn't mean to be there as a part of any grand military strategem, but was merely on the way home from a failed mission in the rim.

She was fuming and counting her losses as she stood by her Custom StealthX. The thing had gone from bad to worse, with a simple border dispute breaking down into all out blood shed. There was a lot of that these days and her frustration was etched in stone into her visage for all to see.

A deck chief walked over, giving her a raised eyebrow. They all knew her not by Karren, but as her Rogue Squadron Callsign. Paladin.

"You Good Paladin?"

She glanced up, realizing she was glowering and made a concerted effort to soften her expression.

"Yeah I'm good Chief. How are you? How's the whole depot thing going."

Chief grumbled.

"Sucks. So far out here we're expected to maintain a defense fleet of Fighters and Axeheads. No parts, little fuel. It's a fething mess."

"You ask command for more resources?"

"Yeah, they keep saying we're not a high threat zone, except that a load of bull. The farther we are the more high threat we get. Hell even pirates could-"

Something beeped on his datapad. Karren raised an eyebrow.

"Hold on. Frak."

"What?"

"Umm....might be nothing. Might be something. Think you could fly a quick patrol? Ain't got any Rogues here that I know of. Just normal fighter jockeys. Hyperspace beacon picked up some unidentified sigs. Wanna check it out."

Karren considered it, torn between wanting to fly home to Tython and shed her woes as fast as possible, and the thrill of some new potential battle. In the end her violent side won out.

I'm really, really, really not the greatest Jedi.​

Oh Well.

"Yeah. Link me up with your guys. My fighter should be good on fuel by now. Show me what you got Chief."

 

[Zark San Tekka]

Alliance Defense Station
Enarc System, Mid Rim

It was his first mission back in Federation space since the Kuragin operation. It had been for the most part successful, but once the cease fire had been signed Deacon could understand how one of the men who cut the head off First Order logistics throughout the Anoat sector might wish to distance himself for a time. The Imperials had recovered footage of his face, so first that had to change, and then the infiltration agent had spent the next few months on the other side of the galaxy, in the far east of the Tingel Arm documenting the Dominion's collapse and a pattern of Sith attributed activities. Dark work, off the logs, and far from where he could do any damage back home.

Darksword was gone now, his records purged and all association the Hapan had held with the Strategic Intelligence Service erased, but Agent Deacon endured. Now they had him on a blue milk run, on the lonely end of the Enarc Run babysitting some famous Republic war hero turned private contractor who had disappeared off the grid for some time, only to show up at the Defense Force's doorstep in response to a posting for consultant work. Sitting several tables down in the same mess hall as [member="Kiyron"], he didn't face his target but the optical package of his comprehensive but discreet cybernetics package tracked the merc's movements nonetheless.

Everywhere he went outside of SIS owned facilities he went as someone else, and this time was no different. Today his identity was that of an executive officer in the Alliance SpaceOps Marines, Major Cal Bright on temporary assignment for the week while the station battalion's second was on emergency leave. Only the base's commander knew of his presence and the code phrase that would identify him, not even the Lieutenant Colonel he answered to was aware of his true authority. Deacon understood that this was as much a test of him as it was of Kiyron, to see if he could behave himself on an asset level assignment. If that was what it took to get back in High Command's good graces and start making a difference again, he didn't mind.

[member="Valerie Rein"] | [member="Fabian"] | [member="Horus Vizsla"] | [member="Karren Trask"]​

 

[Jada Raxis]

[member="Valerie Rein"] [member="Fabian"] [member="Kiyron"]

Remnants of the Free Peoples Navy
Enarc in the Path of the Pirates

Rothana had been a bust. As much as the militia Navy and herself had fought to defend the planet, the Imperials had stormed on in and wrecked the place. Though it was Ice it was her home and now he and her comrades were displaced, shattered and barely holding on. The flotilla of vessels she was at the head of consisted of two Civilian Cargo Liners, stuffed full of refugees and her own Jast 1 Freighter, The Quantum Runner.

Farther back in the stack Twin Marauder Corvette's New Dawn and Argyle could be seen flying escort for the civies.

As always she groaned when they hit a scanner contact.

"Looks like......Pirates." Her Co-Pilot replied. His name was Talor, a Bith that spoke broken basic and for the life of him could not understand why she did not own a blaster, nor any weapon. Or why she took his and hid when they were aboard her vessel.

"Fething hell. We are trying to get away and we stumble right into a hornets nest."

"What's the play?"

Jada paused, hands hanging on the controls and weighed her options. The second they tried to turn and run, they'd be hounded like prey. If they stood and fought, there was no telling how many lives might be lost. So many had already been lost....

"We board em."

"Say again?"

"You heard me, we board em. What's the largest vessel in their entourage? That's gonna be the one we want to get."

"Hold on........ ok found it. YV-929. Corellian type, twenty two meters long."

"Ok. Patch me through to the fleet, encrypted comms."

Within moments she had their ears.

"Attention fleet, this is defacto Admiral Raxis. Turn the Civillian Craft off course by sixty point eight and send them half burn away. New Dawn and Argyle will continue escort. Hit the far side of the planet and stay clear. I'm going in."

"Admiral, you sure about this?"

"Dead as a bantha, do it now please."

She shut off the line, just as Talor hit their fake distress signal. They wouldn't have to chase the Pirates, they'd come to them like sharks when there's blood in the water.

Jada flexed her gloves and rose to her feet. She hated Pirates, almost as much as Imperials.

"Alright, let me know what happens next. I'll be in the back, setting a trap. Play damsel in distress will you buddy?"

"I'm a Male Jada."

"Figure of speech."

 

[Subject 37]

Enarc Orbit
Allies: [member="Horus Vizsla"] | [member="Fabian"]
Enemies: [member="Jada Raxis"] | [member="Deacon"] | [member="Karren Trask"]

The Jump was a short one, it had been meant to be.

The TIE Hunter dropped out of hyperspace with none of the sudden lurch that Valerie had come to expect, instead its exit was smooth. The Hyperdrive for this ship had been built into it seamlessly, and with the s-foils locked the ship was faster than most other TIE's. Her grip on the controls tightened, and immediately the sensors within her ship began to blare out positions of enemy ships. She scowled, her fingers slipping onto the triggers positioned at the top of the controls.

"Three and four take on those merchant ships." She had no idea if that was what they actually were, but they certainly didn't carry any military markings nor did they look like the vessels usually flown by the Alliance. "The rest with me."

They weren't here to actually be pirates after all.

Venom had come to take out that Alliance base and gain entry into the facility itself. In order to do that they needed to take out any air support the Alliance Navy had. Valerie took in a breath and pushed the TIE Hunter away from the merchant vessels and directly towards the planet in the distance. Half of her squadron quickly followed, the other half pulling off towards the merchant vessels in order to take them down.

Her ship roared as it shot towards the planet.

 

[Marcus Tritum]

Unless his ears deceived him, the ruthless, hard charging Supercommando was trying to engage him in polite smalltalk.

Nonplussed, Fabian blinked.

"Erm," he frowned. Why did they always stick him on the small ships? One part rank, two parts a lack of connections within this Imperial space. He came from the Corporate Sector and, save for the friends he had made at the academy, found sponsorship of a higher ranking officer or important politico difficult to obtain.

"True, an Aiwha would be nice, but it lacks a hangar. Perhaps a Vigil."

In other words, something resembling a Star Destroyer more than it did these armed freighters he had been commanding.

They dropped out of hyperspace.

The sensors panel started chirping almost immediately and the helmsman called over his shoulder, "Captain, you see these?"

"Yes, leave them. Those two fighters will be enough. Continue toward the planet."

[member="Horus Vizsla"] | [member="Valerie Rein"] | [member="Karren Trask"] | [member="Jada Raxis"] | [member="Deacon"]

 

[Desmond C'artyom]

Inferno One sat in the FC-115 bomber as it dropped out of hyperspace. Its stealth suites activated immediately and Desmond eased on the throttle, so as to mask their ion trail. The bomber doubled as a infiltration ship and Desmond was thankful for the machine. The quarters were tight and cramped as the vessel itself was jam packed full of weapon systems and the like. But, the vessel in itself was large and cumbersome. Despite its length it’s stealth capabilities would make it almost impossible to detect. Desmond watched as the “Pirates” ignored the merchant ships and made a beeline straight for the galactic alliance outpost.

He sighed a little as they did so. Such a move would certainly give away their true motivations. Regardless, Inferno One was here to assist in the destruction of the outpost. Once their fellow Imperials had secured any data of note, they would blow the base to smithereens. It was relatively straightforward really. The FC-115 was equipped with a hypervelocity cannon that utilized uranium core rounds. It would level the base and leave whatever was left a radioactive wasteland. All they had to do was merely float around a bit whilst Venom squad proved their worth. Desmond appreciated such a bold task force. Before being transferred to Inferno he had been a similar bureau.

Purge Squadron he and his men had been called then, but that was in the past now. He truly believed this Venom squadron would be more than capable. He stared out at the stars and watched through the canopy as the merchant ships fumbled around, not quite sure what to do about the pirates. Desmond contemplated bombing them for all but a moment, but decided they were not part of the mission parameters and opted to ignore the vagrant fleet instead

[member="Fabian"] / [member="Valerie Rein"] / [member="Jada Raxis"] / [member="Deacon"] / [member="Karren Trask"] / [member="Kiyron"] / [member="Horus Vizsla"]

 

[Horus Vizsla]

Horus nodded. Vigil. That was the baby star destroyer, if his memory served him correctly. "More of a classic that one." Horus replied, before they dropped out of hyperspace. The sensor's officer noted some contacts on screen, and Horus decided the time for pleasantries had passed.

"Rachet's Raiders, to arms. Contact in five." Horus said over his commlink and headed over to the airlock. His commlink was set up to listen to both Fabian and his crew, with different motions triggering him talking to one party or the other. Middle management. Fun times.

"We're suited up and ready to go Horus." 1031- er, Lisha said to him over the comms as he headed over to the airlock.

"We're ready to deploy whenever you're ready Captain." Horus commed to [member="Fabian"]

[member="Valerie Rein"] [member="Desmond C'artyom"] [member="Jada Raxis"] [member="Deacon"] [member="Karren Trask"] [member="Kiyron"]

 

[Jada Raxis]

[member="Valerie Rein"] [member="Fabian"]

Remnants of the Free Peoples Navy
High Orbit.

"We have incoming Jada!"

"Well feth me. Hit em!"

The fighters that had streaked off towards the civilian haulers were lit up with a fusillade of the Jast 1's repeater laser cannon. Two hits rent a wing, sending one spiralling away. The one that slipped past was taken down by a few well placed missiles from the Marauders,blown asunder as the HE warheads impacted it's shields.

"These can't be Pirates. That's too sloppy. Their main force ignored the easy pickings and flew right into system."

Jada moved back along the corridors, swinging her arms at a light jog and then leaned over Talor, checking the readouts and glancing up through the view port.

Her brown eyes squinted.

"Agreed. These aren't pirates at all. Totally different operating parameters."

"So what's the play now?"

She paused mulling over her options. This system did have an Alliance Base and what was left of their fleet was in need of fuel and refit. Plus it'd do the civies good to get off the ship into some type of actual air and sunlight.

"Contact the Alliance and send them our flight data. Let them know we're coming in to assist. I'll take the helm."

She slid into her eat, napping the harness closed around her body and punched the throttle. They zoomed into system, right after the fighters.

 

[Zark San Tekka]

Alliance Defense Station

Klaxons drowned out any stray conversation within the station's mess hall, as Alliance sailors scrambled out of their seats and even over tables in some cases to get to their posts as quickly as possible. If it hadn't been for the augmented reality marker displayed through his optical suite, Agent Deacon would have lost sight of [member="Kiyron"] in the chaos altogether. He would have to take some small comfort in the knowledge that his implants would allow him to track the freelancer's movements throughout the station for the duration of this apparent emergency, but he still had a role to play.

It was not mandatory for Major Bright to report to the station command deck at this time, in fact the proper protocol would be to head for the barracks and oversee the battalion as they mustered to respond to whatever crisis these alarms signified if called upon. But despite the remote posting, the marines stationed on this outpost in the Enarc system were well trained professionals. The Hapan operative had faith that the more junior officers would get along without him, and when he reached a turbolift he punched the key for the bridge.

"Shields up! Divert power to forward batteries!" the voice of Commander Aran resonated as the lift doors opened onto a command deck in chaos. The Nabooian station chief's frantic pacing from station to station dispelled any notions Deacon may have had of a possible false alarm, "Repeat warning hails across all channels! Firing solutions, get me firing solutions!"

"Major," Lieutenant Colonel Haako, his assumed identity's Neimoidian commanding officer, waved him over to the side and out of the way, "What are you doing up here? You should be with the men."

"What's the situation, sir?" Deacon deflected, seamlessly transitioning into the distinct mannerisms of Cal Bright, "Pirates?"

"Out here, who else?" the Neimodian wheezed through a breathing apparatus that allowed his disease prone form to operate in extreme environments, "Its only a few light craft and some fighters, but they knew to strike at the weakest point in our patrol schedule, and the closest reinforcements are too far out. There are a few craft out on patrol in system, but there's a good chance we'll be earning our pay today."

[member="Valerie Rein"] | [member="Fabian"] | [member="Horus Vizsla"] | [member="Karren Trask"] | [member="Jada Raxis"] | [member="Desmond C'artyom"]​

 

[Kiyron]

[member="Deacon"]

Kiyron looked up as alarms began echoing through the facility. Personnel began moving to their positions. But Kiyron just sat there for several long moments until the majority of the crowd had vanished. Then he stood and made his way back to his quarters. He wasn't sure what was happening yet, but it was certainly not going to be good. There was no sense of a drill about the situation, only the cold inevitability of war. He opened his crate and took out his supplies, hurriedly donning his armor and weapons. His helmet though, he kept under his arm as he strode back into the hallway.

He stood out like a sore thumb, unfortunately, being the only one around in somewhat Mandalorian-looking armor. It was Mandalorian armor, in fact. Not beskar, but still of excellent quality. He held one of his IDs in his hand as he hurried through the base to the command center. It marked him as a Colonel in the GADF. Which, despite his unusual appearance, was still true, more or less. It had its uses as well.

He held up the badge as he approached the base commander.

"Special Operations," he said and moved towards the display screens. "Sitrep."

 

[RC 212]

Engaging Enemy
[member="Valerie Rein"] [member="Fabian"]

It didn't take long for Karren and her few fighters to launch. Their column was crewed by her in the lead, followed by three A-Wings. Not the most daunting of forces, but enough to mount a patrol. She dialled back the inertial compensator, letting the G-Forces push her hand into the seat and grinned.

Blood was rushing to her head. she loved the plunge before the true fall.

​

"Alright boys, spread out. Delta formation."​

"I got something on my scopes!"​

"Two confirms."​

Karren glanced down and felt her lips curl into a wicked smile. They hadn't had to look hard. Already she was seeing them on her own scopes.

"Roger, engaging now. Follow through for attack run!"​

She jammed the trigger of her modified StealthX, sending a flurry of Mass driver rounds towards the incoming fighter, piloted by Valerie. Below them comms channels were lighting up from a Jada Raxis alerting the CIC of a possible pirate raid.....

 

[Gir Quee]

Location: LL-1200 Light Freighter Java, near Enarc
Allies: [member="Jada Raxis"] | [member="Karren Trask"] | [member="Deacon"] | [member="Kiyron"]
Enemies: [member="Horus Vizsla"] | [member="Valerie Rein"] | [member="Fabian"] | [member="Desmond C'artyom"]

"Did I really have to come along for this?" asked the droid.

Gir spared a quick glance from the cockpit's controls to mock-glare at the droid, "You weren't doing anything useful anyways."

"I am certain I could find something more productive," stated X3, leaning forward, "even if it was inventory on the Tide."

"I need a second hand if things go south," said the man, toggling through the systems information, "and since I'm not here technically, it had to be someone who wouldn't be missed, and someone could keep his mouth shut. You're the only..."

I almost said person...

"...one that fills the bill."

"If you say so."

An automated alert began to scrawl over his flight console. Pirate attack? A poor time to visit. He sighed and reluctantly tapped several buttons on his screen, pulling up a system map to see where the attackers were. To his surprise, they appeared to be ignoring some of the smaller ships in the system, which often seemed to be the choice prey for many targets: they could easily be overwhelmed and taken before an organized response could be scrambled. The most credits for the least risk. Yet these raiders showed none of that typical behavior by going straight towards the Alliance base, which could suggest any number of things. They could have been hired by some unknown party to hit the base, or perhaps the base was host to some exceptionally valuable item or person. It's a boring enough system that most people wouldn't pay it any mind. But what would the alliance keep here? That curiosity found him coaxing the Java in arc that would take him to intercept the raiders. He tapped a button on the console, engaging the ship's SLAM drive, which caused the freighter to surge towards the ragged formation of interlopers. Quee toggled the shields full forward before turning to face the droid.

"Good news X3, you can no longer be bored," said Gir, "get to one of the turrets and man it. We have some investigating to do."

"With laser cannons?"

"With laser cannons."

 

[Subject 37]

Enarc Orbit
Allies: [member="Horus Vizsla"] | [member="Fabian"]
Enemies: [member="Jada Raxis"] | [member="Deacon"] | [member="Karren Trask"]

Valerie saw the fight fly towards her, the silhouette of the stealthX outlined against the backdrop of the planet.

She might have been caught by surprise if it wasn't for the fact that they were already near the atmo, the red contrails of flames flowing around the other ships that were dashing towards her and her squadron. A tight smile formed on her lips, her fingers grasping the controls just a bit tighter.

Then suddenly she jerked it to the side.

The TIE Hunter flipped to the side, it's locked S-foils adding maneuverability to the already quick little craft. The ship danced to the side as a stream of Mass Driver rounds poured just to the left of her, a broad smile pulling on her lips as she pushed the ship further and faster.

She darted passed the StealthX and the the flight behind it, not even bothering engaging them as she dove into the atmosphere. "Sorry babe."

Valerie said with a smirk as she passed the other ship.

As soon as she darted passed the group of Alliance fighters those in her squadron engaged them. Two Ancient ARC-170's fired proton Torpedos directly at the lead A-wing, and the others began to open fire with their laser cannons as the StealthX. Valerie meanwhile dove directly towards the Alliance base below, her S-foils popping open as she prepared for atmosphere flight.

 

[RC 212]

Engaging Enemy
[member="Valerie Rein"] [member="[COLOR=#7a98a2]Fabian"][/COLOR]


"What in the hell? Oh Chit no!" She roared.

Frustration boiled the young Jedi's blood and she jammed hard backwards on the yoke. Her StealthX screamed, afterburner jets firing and performed a perfect loop to chase her evader.

Meanwhile one of the A-Wings took a missile to the face, and blasted into pieces. Karren felt the loss, like a lead brick slam her in the chest. Return fire from the second fighter managed to wreck an ARC-170 and then he peeled off.

"On me, keep juking."​

"Roger that Paladin."​

She sped onwards, getting her target dead center. In the space between breaths, a split second of cross hairs lining up; she fired.

More mass driver rounds punched for Valerie's TIE Hunter....