Plucking Coals from the Fire (Raid on Odacer-Faustin)

[Ashin Varanin]

ODACER-FAUSTIN​

REPUBLIC SPACE​

BUT THE PART NOBODY CARES ABOUT OR HAS DONE ANYTHING WITH​

EVER​

[member="Jared Ovmar"] [member="Spencer Jacobs"]

The Star Destroyers Chimaera and Grave Wind exited hyperspace over Odacer-Faustin, and dove into the gravity well as if they meant to impale the continent-spanning snowstorm.

Thanatos Station had been offloaded en route, a quick stopover, but their vector had remained the same, and easily traceable by the Black Sun forces who'd been at the Styx raid only hours ago.

Dranok Lussk, Shinju Ayasha and Krag had come here once, a few years back. Lussk's Legion had been torn apart, a legend that had percolated throughout the Sith Empire. The Republic had never ventured here; the Jedi had never sought to contain this location. And Odacer-Faustin was just one of a hundred deadly worlds that had gone unnoticed, fallen by the wayside of the road that [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] would have called the Republic's imperial overstretch.

Ashin had come through this system as a Jedi only a couple of months ago, before Odium broke her and unlocked her old addiction. That flyby had shown her a ravaged old temple, un-contained and very far away from settlements in general. It had shown her a paltry system defense force, a couple of fighter squadrons, pretty standard for a peripheral system this size. It had shown her no indication of permanent Jedi presence; no archaeologist could survive the old temple, and no warrior could be spared for something this...minor. This was not to say that there might not be Jedi down there, or passing by, but considering the One Sith had broken them repeatedly, an Order in full retreat had its priorities.

But this was close to Mandalorian space, very close; [member="Azrael"] might have some interest. Likewise, [member="Irys Arist'lar"] and her ACA monitor ships might have followed to see what might take place. [member="Kiskla Grayson"] or [member="Iella E'ron"] might send someone to check it out. And [member="Mr. Ash"], [member="Ordan Vosk"] and [member="Airal Thamne"] might have pursued. All in all, this could go in any direction.

Ashin sat in the thronelike command chair that had always decorated the bridge of the Chimaera. "Spencer, Jared," said Ashin quietly, "stand by for battle meditation if we need it. I want anyone who comes near us with anything like hostility to decide to go elsewhere. Quickly. We're not here to kill any more than we're here to make friends. We're just here to do their job for them. If they've failed, blame the One Sith."

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

The Sith Lord simply nodded his head, preparing himself to plunge into the current and influence the tide of battle by impressing his will upon the, maybe, incoming opponents.

If they stepped foot in this sector Ovmar would shove his metaphorical fist in their essence, feeding their fears and mania, sow dissent amongst them and make them more likely to fight against each other than to direct their attention to any of Varanin’s fleets.

Hopefully, in the meanwhile, Jacobs would either bolster their own fleets with her energy, patching up that hole in the defense or perhaps enhance his capability to influence any opponents that would try to get at ‘em.

[member="Spencer Jacobs"]

 

[Vaudin Miir]

Vaudin sat in his office face down in a pile of datachips. His eyes wide open as he stared at the cubical paperweight on his desk that currently held reports about jedi that had been acting more like frat and sorority members than defenders of peace. The box remeinded him of why he took the job as a senator, the people of Iktotchi were clairvoyant to a degree most species would marvel at. Every single member of the society had a degree of precognition force sensitive members even more so. The elders of the planet had supported his run for Senate believing he could help the republic protect not just iktotch but the rest from some unknown threat and sadly he now understood what that was...and he had failed.

He wondered what Jorus would say if he knew Vaudin was actually having pangs of guilt for spending more time drinking and chasing after Sumalee than doing his job. So, with heavy shoulders he did something he hadn't done since his days as a Vagrant. He sat back grabbed the paperweight and closed his steel grey eyes and felt with his gut. He let his mind wander, let it drift on the solar winds and move across the infinite black. Years of training would have been a hell of a lot of help right now but he didn't have it and so he trusted his gut and found out he was getting exactly nowhere.

He had a feeling, a feeling simething was off, but where and when, who or what was causing it was anybodies guess. He made a decision, he had certain privileges as a Senator, as the Internal affairs director and he decided to abuse them liberally. A quick message to [member="Kiskla Grayson"] saying he was going to borrow a few ships to go on an inspection, which was a lie that he didn't feel bad for, and he was dressed in his spacer gear and walking out with paperweight in hand.

Two hours later....

He stood on the bridge of the Warhammer Star destroyer "Resplendent" and in deep thought at the navigation station. Two Dreadnought Cruisers flanked his newly commissioned ship for the Iktotch defense fleet he was supposed to be delivering it and making a stop to give the local elders a briefing in a few weeks....may as well give it a test flight. His fingers flew over the navcomputer manual coordinate entry system and he sent the outcome to the other two ships as the captain of the fleet, a fellow iktotchi, looked at him with obvious concern.

"Senator...there is no hyperlane along those coordinates." the Captain said maintaining his composure.

"Then take notes, Cap, cause we're trailblazing." Vaudin replied sitting back. "Jump."

The captain looked at the senator for a moment his hand brushing his Ambassador pistol before he nodded to the pilots. "Aye, sir." he said as the stars elongated, the veiwscreen was filled with light and the ships disappeared into hyperspace.


[member="Spencer Jacobs"] [member="Jared Ovmar"] [member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

[member="Vaudin Miir"] [member="Jared Ovmar"] [member="Ashin Varanin"] [member="Hal Terrano"] [member="Spencer Jacobs"]

Lira watched the viewport of the ship with some amount of dismay.

She stood in disbelief as the pale blue lines of hyperspace drifted by them. There was a slight prickle that ran up her spine, a jarring sense of wrongness that she didn't at all like. Her lips turned down into a frown, and finally she backed up from the viewport.

Lira and one of her Masters were now in a quite awkward situation. They had been aboard one of the two Dreadnought Cruisers when the small fleet jumped to hyperspace. Lira had insisted that she get a tour of one of the Dreadnoughts, and Hal being her instructor for that day had relented at the wishes of the girl. It just so happened when the ship had received orders from the Senator to join the fleet and jump to hyperspace both Lira and Hal had been somewhat isolated in the engine compartment of the ship,

The young Padawan had been inspecting the Dreadnoughts engines when she'd noticed the flareup of power, and when the jump to hyperspace was made, both Jedi were quite puzzled.

Of course the Captain of the Vessel had assumed that both Jedi had left the ship hours ago. None of the crew ever thought to check the engine room, after all what Jedi would be interested in the engines of a Capital Ship? Clearly only the ones that were insane. So it was that the ship jumped to Hyperspace without the consideration of Hal and Lira, stranding the two Jedi aboard the ship

Now she sat on an acceleration couch, watching as hyperspace drifted by the viewport.

Awkward.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Lira Dajenn"] | [member="Vaudin Miir"] | [member="Jared Ovmar"] | [member="Ashin Varanin"]​

​

​

"Damned insidious muck!", she spat the words to her knee high black boots. In her quarters on board the Vigueur Argent, a nice little Ambassador-class Corvette, Iella attempts to rid her boots of the clinging dust of Korriban. Master [member="Xander Carrick"] and her good self are returning to Voss after Vaapad training on the pit of a place. However, she had decided to take the long way, and pay a visit to Ossus. It had been ages since she walked among the jungles and delighted in the old history of the Jedi and she had to wonder if the what state the Temple was in after all the 'issues' with Daella. She suspected the Jedi remained, however she would not be paying them a visit, considering she is not their favourite person, so be it. But the intention of her visit is a pilgrimage of sorts, surely they would not deny her that.

Iella stood and slipped her boots back on, and adjusted the hem of her brown robes, before heading to the bridge. No crew this trip, only Xander somewhere on board. The blue tunneling hyperspace filled the main view window of the bridge, her eyes checked over their progress noting they approached the Odacer-Faustin System, a place she knew little about. As they are in no hurry to return to Voss, Iella made a quick decision to check it out, now given the opportunity.

Now with the time to sit and go over incoming messages, there was nothing of urgency and nothing that could wait until her return to Voss. However, one message caught her eyes, a vague report from the Silver Shadows regarding the very system she is about to investigate. Intel received, possible insurgents on Odacer-Faustin. Her eyebrow arched, why do the Shadows have to be so cryptic. As a joke to herself she turned the data pad over to look for the rest of the message.

The Argent pulled out of hyper on clue, Iella wasted no time and pushed the ship down into the atmosphere of the planet. Sensors blinked as signatures of ships began popping up, none of which she recognised. "Curious".

 

[Ashin Varanin]

The velocity of the Star Destroyers' reentry had to be tearing an orbit-visible rent in the continent-sized storm front. Their reentry trajectory was a blindingly fast subsection of an elliptical orbit, a slingshot tight enough to shear right through the upper atmosphere.

"Admiral, we have a reversion contact -- a light corvette, Ambassador-class, telesponder reads Vigoo, ah, Vigyewer Arjent."

"It's pronounced Vigurr Argeahn, Lieutenant, or it should be. Soft second grek, silent trill." Ashin glanced up from the veritable snowstorm on the bridge viewport as if she could see the corvette through the ceiling. "That's Master E'ron's ship, or Master Ru's or Master Gan's -- I forget which. Regardless, the Silver Jedi have decided to grace us with their presence. No hail?"

"No, ma'am."

"Time?"

"Trill minus seventeen minutes. All operators report ready."

"Deploy gunships."

An octet of Malos-class gunships exited the hangar of the speeding Star Destroyer, spreading and dropping to avoid turbulence and the chance of collision. They assumed a line five hundred metres behind the Chimaera and the Grave Wind, keeping pace with the far larger vessels five hundred metres below the plane of the destroyers' trajectories. Still high, in atmospheric terms, and the Malos had never been designed to tackle these velocities controllably, but those were good pilots out there. If nothing disturbed them, reached out and touched them with ignorance or ill intent, they'd be able to hold a straight-line course and keep control in the clouds. These ten ships, counting the destroyers, were bound for no inhabited settlement or military installation they could detect; to an orbital observer, the maneuver would seem fairly pointless and insanely risky.

[member="Iella E'ron"] [member="Spencer Jacobs"] [member="Jared Ovmar"] [member="Vaudin Miir"] [member="Lira Dajenn"]

 

[Olom Grihk]

Olom Grihk frowned with his usual air of severity and annoyance. He had be just about ready to infiltrate Styx and do some probing when two whole fleets showed up on his sensors. He just fled, deciding to let it sort itself out. But, annoyingly, his prize had been likely been taken from him--the rumored "secret installation" on Styx. Ad now he'd heard a rumor that an imperial ship was just spotted here. On this backwater planet. Great. Maybe he could scrounge up some parts or data.



He sighed as he fell out of hyperspace. A large fleet. Grand. And a Star Destroyer entering atmosphere. He blinked. Needle-like teeth rose in a grin. He switch his comm frequency to an old Sith Empire channel, just to see if his luck would pull. "This is Olom Grihk, retired Imperial strategist on board the Quiet Flea. Do you require assistance?"


His red eyes flickered, sensing with the force. There was a Sith radiating energy--a form of battle meditation, likely. There were likely more force-users drawn into this as well. He wondered if he could do something of use. He hoped it wasn't Zambrano or Ardiik. Those two had left on rather depressing terms.


[member="Ashin Varanin"] [member="Vaudin Miir"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[The Dark Man]

Other ages had the phalanx,
the carrier,
the KKV.
Now you are the defining weapons system of our time.

Troiken Enclave
Colundra System
Outer Rim Territories


The Jedi Chapter House is located two kilometres from the Hormick Range and Mt. Avos. Situated in a fierce and dense jungle, the temple has stood as a testament to time. Nearby falls washes in fresh water from the mountain. It was here that Jedi Selah was stationed, a Watchman of the Order, and one of a handful that remained. A tradition that had seemingly long gone out of fashion. After seven months in the Coruscant underworld, evading Sith patrols since the fall of the Temple, he briefly reconnected with the Order, but as soon as he had come back, he was gone again. He did so of his own choosing, he felt out of place, and perhaps the lonesome days in gutters and alleyways had changed him. Solitude was his greatest friend now, and so he vanished to Troiken, the furthest reaches of Republic space, the fringes of their territory that dictated the border of the Republic from the Silver Jedi. With so few Watchmen left, he was not designated a single planet, nor a single sector, he was given a wide swath of space. Various sectors containing numerous planets, and thus he was never bored.

Ceaselessly he monitored and observed where he could, intervened in local politics where it called for it — but in the Outer Rim, it was a rare occurrence. Many of the planets were without intelligent life, and what intelligent life existed was not in massive droves of enormous cities, but small mining villages of settlers. Few disputes warranted his attention, and Jedi Selah appreciated that comfort. It gave him more time to tend to the gardens outside, study the local geography and provide for himself through natural means of foraging and hunting. One could say it was not the Jedi way to hunt, but he believed otherwise. His deep connection gave him an insight in to the lives of the creatures. Deeply and spiritually rooted into the planet. He bled with sorrow on the inside for each time he animal he ate, but took comfort that they were now one with the Force. It was incomprehensibly and vastly more humane than any slaughterhouse. A curious Jedi, others would easily note. He had been a padawan for forty-five years, self-imposed, he had never believed himself spiritually ready. He also held the controversial views that few living Jedi Knights or Masters were either, including the incredibly young Grandmaster, but such things he never voiced.

Now he believed himself spiritually ready, and not too long ago, an informal Knighting had been held on Troiken. A Jedi had been made to travel to the distant planet for the Knighting, and as soon as it was complete the member of the Order was off again. As Jedi Selah in present time laboured over the influx of data, he noted an unusual request from a Republic senator. The aged yet robust Jedi rose from his wooden chair in the astronomy room and made his way for the foyer, where the scents of moistened flora greeted his senses. He took a deep breath and moved for a clearing nearby the falls, large oval spectacles bobbing on his thick nose as he moved. His long robes as dark as night flailed behind him, tarnished and torn from years of wearing. A Defender-class light corvette rose up before him, and with the subtle motion of his hand, he sent a trickling of the Force into the vessel, and the ramp lowered. Quickly he navigated through the bowels of the ship, moving towards the cockpit. He dreaded flying, but as a Jedi it almost seemed necessary in some cases. One such case was now. Whatever Senator Miir was investigating in Jedi Selah’s sector, Ekul deemed it necessary for himself to tag along. He bounced a quick frequency to the Republic vessels, “This is Jedi Selah en route from Troiken.”

{ [member="Olom Grihk"] | [member="Ashin Varanin"] | [member="Iella E'ron"] | [member="Lira Dajenn"] | [member="Vaudin Miir"] | [member="Jared Ovmar"] }

 

[Vaudin Miir]

[member="Ekul Selah"] | [member="Olom Grihk"] | [member="Ashin Varanin"] | [member="Iella E'ron"] | [member="Lira Dajenn"] | [member="Jared Ovmar"]

Vibrant blue bathed his reddish brown face as he stared out into the colloidal mass of hyperspace. Bustle of people hurrying to prepare for whatever was at the other end of his gut plotted course. Cold grey durasteel rested beneath his brown calf high boots as foot falls of crewmen melded into the background din of activity. A hand rested in the crook of his elbow as the opposite hand rubbed his chin absently. His thoughts drifted along through space and time as he grasped for answers. His mind groped in the perpetual motion of the future like a blind man looking for a light switch in a foreign room. He knew it was there somewhere within reach, truth, answers, light, but not visible. Then he realized someyhing that drew him out of his silent contemplation, blind me didn't need light switches to be able do what they must. All they needed was the courage to try, the strength to take the lumps that may come and the determination to keep going despite their limitations. He didn't need to know what he was flying into, he didn't need force tricks and he didn't need to stand around playing a big shot when there was work to be done.

He uncrossed his arms and moved toward the ship's war room, boot tapping out the rest of his doubt and hammering his resolve to serve the republic in the best way he knew how, as a good for nothing pirate scoundrel. He made his way to the tactical holo-transceiver as the captain and XO were discussing tactics and formations with the captains of the other vessels. The two men snapped to attention out of respect and were met with a hand wave and a stern look as he came to stand by the image of the target system.

"You can snap to like that if I put on a blasted monkey suit." he said his face hard witha seriousness seldom seen in the drunken carouser. "What do we know?"

"Odacer-Faustin, senator." the XO said after a nod from the captain, "it's been so neglected and untouched we don't even have a patrol there. A local satellite used for holonet relays picked up several ships in the system but it's not made for giving tactical data. In fact had they not used communicators we wouldn't even have known they were there."

"Do we know what was said?"

"No senator, it was encrypted."

"One of ours?"

"No, senator. We know that much."

"One Sith?"

"Possibly, but it could be well prepared Pirates as well."

"Satellite still operating?"

"Yes senator."

"Alright, get an S-thread open and monitor communications in and out while the comm team works on decryption. What do we know about the world?"

"Nothing...no population, no settlements for a thousand years as far as we know and anything older was lost in the plague."

"Why the hell would anyone go there then?"

"Either they know something we don't or they think they do senator."

"Good answer." Vaudin said nodding. "Prep fighters and bombers. We may need to make sweeps of the system when we get there."

"Probe droids?"

"If we got'em but I trust a pilot's eyes over a clunker any day."

"Make it so." the captain said to the XO.

"Aye sir." was the quick crisp reply as the human XO saluted turned and walked out as the Comm officer, a Bothan female, walked in.

"Sirs" she said her brown and white fur rippling before laying flat on her face. "A Jedi named Selah has reported being enroute to Faustin to meet us."

"Keep the message short petty-officer just say 'acknowledged' and return to monitoring comm channels."

"Aye sir." she said as she turned and walked back out.

They had twenty more minutes of hyperspace as the pilots scrammbled to prepare the fighters and bombers for launch and recon droids for deployment.

 

[Hal Terrano]

[member="Vaudin Miir"], [member="Ekul Selah"], [member="Olom Grihk"], [member="Ashin Varanin"], [member="Iella E'ron"], [member="Jared Ovmar"], [member="Spencer Jacobs"]

They were not supposed to be here.

Familiar crease marks upon Hal Terrano's forehead found themselves etched deeper then before. He didn't exactly want to be upon the Dreadnought, he didn't exactly care for technology, Force, he didn't even know how to pilot a standard vessel never mind knowing the intricacies of a larger one.

However, a good teacher did not deny their students the pursuit of knowledge in any facet, even if said area of expertise was beyond him. Between Hal and Avalore their skills covered a lot of ground, but not all.

Thus, they were here.

Stuck.

Wasting time travelling throughout hyperspace while real proper Jedi training could be done. The temple maintenance droid was definitely getting some time off after this excursion. It wasn't exactly a punishment, [member="Lira Dajenn"] would have been cleaning Cato Neimoida's temple regardless of this incident. Only it would prove to sooth Hal's soul to have her do it after this monumental waste of time.

Cleaning is discipline, and sooner or later even Avalore Eden was going to learn to clean her dishes in a prompt manner too.

He stood, restless, almost considering a sport of quiet meditation or a jog around the ship but instead decided against it as he turned his back on the viewport and focused his scowling features upon his Padawan, icy blues staring straight at the woman.

“How fares your study of the Tenets, Padawan Dejenn?”

 

[Lira Dajenn]

[member="Vaudin Miir"], [member="Ekul Selah"], [member="Olom Grihk"], [member="Ashin Varanin"], [member="Iella E'ron"], [member="Jared Ovmar"], [member="Spencer Jacobs"], [member="Hal Terrano"]

Lira jumped in her seat slightly, Hals frown bringing a slight prickling to her spine.

She was sure that it was her fight or flight response kicking in. The urge to get up from the couch and sprint to another section of the ship was quite powerful. Under her masters narrow gaze however she found that the scenario was quite unlikely, especially given that Hal would likely just track her down and give her an even bigger frown.

Troubling.

“It's going well, Master.” That was a lie, she had rather forgotten half of them and hadn't even been thinking about them.

In truth she was far more curious about where it was that they were going. She knew for a fact that this ship hadn't been scheduled to make any trips for at least the next day or two, and she knew for a fact that in order to change that plan either something bad happened, or someone high up in the Republic Government had ordered it for some strange reason.

She decided to ask Hal.

“Master, were are we going?” The man had been with her the entire time, but perhaps he had some intuitive Jedi knowledge she was still missing.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer examined her hands and smiled with the perfection of her self manicure. Looking up she noticed that they were moving rather quickly and Jared was already on with his mental attacks. She felt him through the Force, their bonds didn’t lie to each other. He was strong, though she couldn’t take all the credit for it. When she had found him, he was already strong, he was a leader and someone others looked up to. Now he was beyond that, he was strong and understood his strength - deep down he was probably humble as well. He was admired and followed - he was complete. She left the bridge and entered the elevator that dropped her down to the meditation sphere.

While she entered and prepared herself, she searched for Jared - he had almost everything covered, but there were still holes. Seemed he still had some growing to do. Finding her center she closed her eyes, falling into the trance was simple now that she had done it a million times before this. Quickly her influence fell upon the crew along with the gunships that were traveling at high speeds. The reaction times for the crews aboard the ships were focused and confident. The Battle Meditation didn’t end there, her mind connected with [member="Jared Ovmar"] as he felt a sudden boost in his mental state. He would be able to see farther and understand quicker, a familiar sensation would be in the back of his mind as his Master gave part of her strength to him.

Spoiler

[member="Vaudin Miir"] Ekul Selah [member="Olom Grihk"] [member="Ashin Varanin"] [member="Iella E'ron"] [member="Hal Terrano"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"[member="Olom Grihk"], this is Ashin Varanin. Your offer is appreciated and will be rewarded. Meet us on the other side of the planet and stand by; take no hostile actions."

With [member="Spencer Jacobs"] coordinating the gunships and [member="Jared Ovmar"] on defense, the immaterial side of things was covered to her satisfaction. In the command throne of the Chimaera, watching snowclouds split before the Star Destroyer's flame-clad prow, Ashin kept her attention on pericenter. Perigee, really; this was a planet. Not that the second half of the slingshot would have the reach of the first; atmospheric resistance was not negligible.

A bland way to say reentry fire is splashing around my deflector shields like the planet has reached up to grab us. We'll shear through his fist like a pair of broadheads, but we'll leave his reach slower than we arrived.

At trill-minus-one, the tractor beams of the Chimaera and the Grave Wind energized without common focus, tearing up the snowscape a bare handful of kilometers below; helmsmen began the exacting process of compensation, which was about to get even more complex. Ashin stretched out to the force, took one last look at the timer, and closed her eyes to pick the moment by instinct.

"Converge."

There was nothing special about the tractor beams of these two vessels -- nothing but the reactors that fed them, and the quality of the technology that linked the beam projectors with those reactors. When they converged on a single point, like a magnifying glass frying ants, the effect definitely qualified as special in its own right.

And the 4,500-year-old Odacer-Faustin Sith temple ripped itself from the snowscape, complete with Scabrous' tower. The cumbersome subterranean structure, kept together by uniform tractor pressure and its own unnatural structural integrity, trailed clods of permafrost and unlucky undead, along with chunks of dressed stone.

At these velocities, the Star Destroyers passed over the infested zone -- the graveyard of Lussk's Legion -- in less than a second. The eight gunships below and behind them, four on each side of the suspended temple, released their flame carpets, four apiece in a partially overlapping pattern. Just over eighty square kilometers of Blackwing-infested tundra, the heart of the ancient outbreak, turned to eye-searing flame that cast the Chimaera's shadow on the torrential cloudrush before it. Snow pooled in the crevices of the viewport frames, a cold sharp contrast to the funeral pyre that Ashin had lit for the loyal dead.

With unholy speed, dragging a subterranean Sith temple along behind, the two Star Destroyers ripped their way free of atmosphere. At trill-plus-three, [member="Vaudin Miir"]'s flotilla left hyperspace, and was greeted by the sight of a double spearhead, bathed in escape-velocity flame, tearing its way out of a snowstorm and the deepest part of a gravity well. They'd left a continent-sized trail of distortion in the clouds, a straight-line hurricane. [member="Hal Terrano"], [member="Iella E'ron"] and [member="Lira Dajenn"] would be seeing things nobody had seen before.

Terrano, at a guess, would grimace. Possibly frown.

Ashin's hands unclenched from the command chair as relief and pride flooded the bridge -- the ship. "Recall the gunships. Prepare to bring the temple aboard." They weren't out of the woods yet, not by a long shot; though clear of the atmosphere, they hadn't passed into high-orbit range, couldn't jump to hyperspace, and could easily get pinned down by the recently arrived, but far slower-moving, Republic fleet.

 

[Vaudin Miir]

The loud warning klaxon blared through the Warhammer SD as they neared their destination. The pressed clean uniformed crew members hustled to do what they had to as the cloud of hyperspace became pinpricked with light that rapidly expanded to a wall of brilliance before it became streaks of white and finally snapped into the familiar backdrop of the wayfarer's life. He couldn't help but itch for a steering yoke to be held in his hands and to have the seat of his own ships pilot station beneath him. The red warning klaxon that had announced their arrival stopped and to the great relief of the crew they hadn't bounced off a supernova or plowed headlong into a black hole. He had Jorus to thank for that he supposed, but that was another story...

The call came from the sensor station that they had multiple contacts ripping their way free from the world's gravity well trailing a glistening cloud of frozen atmosphere and now frozen moisture like a tail on a comet burning through the cosmos. The iconic wedge shaped duo stared at his tiny fleet and he knew at a glance they had about 300 meters of hull over him plus whatever was in their hangers. He didn't bother asking for ID's on the ships he knew one and that was more than enough to tell him this was thin ice to say the least. The chimaera was a fringe hull, at least it had been last time he heard and it was a as deadly as it was gorgeous. The other hull was a new model but if it was with the chimera he knew it would be foolish to underestimate what it could do.

"Two squadrons of fighters and a squadron of bombers out now and keep them close. If any trigger happy Kark fires without being ordered to make them a debris cloud." Vaudin said as he walked across the bridge, "Alert the dreadnoughts to begin calculating firing solutions on hard points and crippling areas but DON'T FIRE! We don't need to pull a Jedi and shoot first and apologize later."

He walk to the comm officer.

"Hail them, ping them, what the hell ever it is you call it but get me a comm channel to those ships now."

"Aye senator." the officer said, "Done sir."

"Chimaera and unidentified Destroyer. This is Vaudin Miir of The Republic Destroyer "Resplendent", you are not cleared for activity in this system. Halt your engines, lower your shields and turn off your weapons systems until your government can be contacted or we will be forced to engage."

[member="Hal Terrano"] | [member="Spencer Jacobs"] | [member="Ekul Selah"] | [member="Olom Grihk"] | [member="Ashin Varanin"] | [member="Iella E'ron"] | [member="Lira Dajenn"] | [member="Jared Ovmar"]​

 

[Irys Arist'lar]

The burst of Cronau radiation would be remarkably faint this time. Well outside the orbits of the outer worlds, a handful of reconnaissance and monitoring vessels dropped into realspace with little ceremony.

"Watch those two carefully, I want to know where they're headed next,"

 

[Olom Grihk]

"Your orders are noted. I'm on my way," he replied calmly to Ashin. He saw no need to repeat anything else she said. Force only knew who else was trying to listen to this mess, and the less details e shared, the better. He circled around efficiently as other spatial distortions became present. Damn. Everywhere he went, there was a party. He heard an all-channels hail to disarmed. "Idiots." He grinned, teeth like needles as he saw them uprooting a temple. And scorching it?


No, the flames weren't enough to damage the structure. They were sterilizing it. Clever. Why raid a dangerous temple full of sithspawn and feth knows what else when you can just cook it and pack it like a boxed lunch? He liked this Ashin character already, this was clever. "Permission to enter the hangar, Ma'am? It's quite a large fleet out here. I'll gladly escort the package until it heads in, though. Just in case someone goes crazy..."




[member="Irys Arist'lar"] [member="Vaudin Miir"] [member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

Lira Dajenn | Vaudin Miir | Jared Ovmar | Ashin Varanin | [member="Olom Grihk"] | [member="Irys Arist'lar"] | [member="Spencer Jacobs"] | [member="Hal Terrano"] | [member="Ekul Selah"] (Good to see the Knight Tag)​

​

Crusing at a steady pace, and descending, Iella's eye remained fixed on the sensor readouts. Since leaving Voss for training, Iella had disconnected all systems to Voss, the nature of the training needed to be undisturbed. But now with dancing fingers over the control panel, all systems came on line once more, including her link to the data base of the Silver Temple. The identification of all ship began to blink next to the image of their counterparts. Star destroyers, Chimaera and Grave Wind , got hold of her attention more than most.. Ashin, especially when Malos-class gunships came spewing out of them. However they formed escort, but for what purpose?

Iella stood with arms folded across her chest and watched as her ship progress at some distance behind them. But what happened next was nothing sort of extraordinary and surgical. Well she most certainly has a nature flare for the dramatic, she grinned, almost wanting to applaud.

A line of communication now opened to the destroyers. "Star Destroyers, this is the Vigueur Argent, Master Iella E'ron of the Silver Jedi. Need any assistance with destroying that thing?". Iella understood well enough this would most probably not be the purpose of the extraction. She grinned.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Hal Terrano"] | [member="Spencer Jacobs"] | [member="Ekul Selah"] | [member="Olom Grihk"] | [member="Vaudin Miir"] | [member="Iella E'ron"] | [member="Lira Dajenn"] | [member="Jared Ovmar"]

"Admiral?"

The pause had gone on for a moment too long. "Status on the gunships?"

"Thirty seconds."

"DER sensors on the Republic flagship. Comply with Miir's instructions. Cut power to engines, shields and weapons, but not tractor beams. Let's ensure our friends appreciate the gravity of the situation."

"...yes, ma'am."

She touched the comm control. "Senator Miir, we are cutting power to engines, shields and weapons."

***​

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Cutting power to engines on the far side of a slingshot maneuver didn't really do all that much. The two Star Destroyers were moving at a ridiculous velocity relative to both the planet and the Republic fleet. If Miir meant to fire on them for disobeying the spirit of his command while following the letter, and if he held his current position and vector, he would have one chance to hit them squarely with his big guns before they blew past. His deployed small craft, of course, could catch up; two squadrons of fighters and a squadron of bombers.

The gunships reentered the hangar; the temple was on its way, sheltered from direct Republic fire by the bulk of the Chimaera, whose bridge was in turn sheltered by the bulk of the Grave Wind.

***​

[member="Olom Grihk"] likewise received a message, to wit: go right ahead and escort the temple as the tractor beams pull it into the Chimaera, after which you're free to board.

***​

She touched her comms, linking with the Vigueur Argent.

"Look to your own house, Master E'ron. Blackwing has been eradicated here, but there's a valley full of Murakami orchids on the moon of Shri-Tal, in your territory. If you want to help, deal with that."

 

[Hal Terrano]

While Lira was curious about where they were going, Hal was much more curious about his student's studies. He was about to unleash a torrent of questions and ideological quizzing but his Padawan spoke up once more, unwittingly saving herself from a spot of embarrassment and a harsh scolding. No supper until a full spoken analysis of the Jedi Code, young lady.

Moving to answer her second query, the blonde knight opened his mouth, only to instantly close it again.

“I do not know,” he admitted, ethereal eyebrows waggling at the concept of such uncertainty. Folding his arms across his chest he mulled the situation over. “Perhaps it would be wise to find out.”

Without any further prompt he moved, making his way to the bridge and fully expecting his Padawan to follow on behind. After all they were just guests aboard the vessel, they were clueless to why it had so suddenly suddenly made the jump to hyperspace. He might have been a Jedi with the advantage of the Force at his side but he wasn't a ship whisperer, the groans of the hull weren't going to whisper to happenings to him.

So perhaps the ships crew would do.

As they walked to the bridge there was a twang in the pit of his stomach, he was very aware of this mild sense of unease.

[member="Lira Dajenn"], [member="Vaudin Miir"], [member="Ekul Selah"], [member="Olom Grihk"], [member="Ashin Varanin"], [member="Iella E'ron"], [member="Jared Ovmar"], [member="Spencer Jacobs"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

[member="Hal Terrano"], [member="Ekul Selah"], [member="Olom Grihk"], [member="Ashin Varanin"], [member="Iella E'ron"], [member="Jared Ovmar"], [member="Spencer Jacobs"]

Lira scrambled to follow Hal as fast as she could. The much taller man had both a longer stride and his gait was decidedly more steadfast than Lira, but with a rush of her tiny little legs she managed to catch up to him quite readily.

The Dreadnought was not as massive as most Star Destroyers, and the observation deck they had been on was relatively close to the bridge. They made it to the bridge in a matter of moments, coming onto the vessels control center just as the ship dropped out of Hyperspace. Almost immediately the bridge exploded into a flurry of activity. The head of the fleet called out, the dreadnoughts began to position themselves, and the ship began to ready its weapons.

Lira was floored by the activity, and more so by what she saw hovering above the planet.

Two massive Star Destroyers, one dragging something behind it. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to spot it, her force senses extending to see what it was. Suddenly something brushed against her mind, she took a step back involuntarily and looked to Hal, then over to the Captain.

“Captain. There's Sith aboard that vessel, tell your commander.” She spoke with such authority that the bewildered Captain of the Dreadnought immediately relayed to message to [member="Vaudin Miir"].

She could feel the presence of Sith. Not who it was, what they were doing, or even their relative power, but she could feel the disastrously oppressive sense of evil that hung over the two ships, menacing and pushing its will upon others, whether allies or enemies. She frowned slightly, then all of a sudden realized what she had done.

Sheepishly, Lira stepped behind Hal.